(OLLEGE,  ■ 


ORTH  FIELD 


PBESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


Professor  flcnry  van  Dyke,  D.D.,  LiLi.D, 

BR    123    .S36    1888 

Shanks,  T.  J. , 
-^  College  students  at 
'?   Northfield 


COLLEGE   STUDENTS 


AT   NORTHFIELD; 


OR. 


A  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES,  No.  2. 


CONTAINING   ADDRESSES   BY 


MR.  D.  L.  MOODY;   THE  REV.  J.  HUDSON  TAYLOR,  M.D.,  F.R.G.S.! 

THE  REV.  ALEXANDER  McKENZIE,  D.D. ;  THE  REV.  JOHN 

A.  BROADUS,  D.D.,  LL.D. ;    BISHOP  HENDRIX  ;    MR. 

HENRY  CLAY  TRUMBULL ;   PROF.  W.  B. 

HARPER,  AND  OTHERS. 


EDITED   BY   T.   J.    SHANKS. 


NEW  YORK: 
12  Bible  House,  Astor  Place. 


CHICAGO  : 
148  AND  150  Madison  Street. 


Publisher  of  Evangelical  Literature. 


COPYRIGHT,    l888,  BY 

FLEMING   H,    REVELL. 


edward  0.  jenkins'  sons, 
Printers  and  Electrotypers, 
North  WiUiam  Street,  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


Variety  marks  all  the  operations  of  the  Spirit  of 
God — in  revelation  no  less  than  in  creation.  To  look 
for  an  exact  repetition  of  some  former  blessing  in  any 
of  His  later  manifestations  were  futile.  He  leads  us  ever 
into  fresh  realms  of  benison  and  delight.  The  "  College 
Students'  Summer  School  and  Encampment  for  Bible 
Study"  of  1888  in  many  lineaments  differed  from  the 
Summer  School  of  the  previous  year,  even  as  that  was 
unlike  the  initial  gathering  at  Mount  Hermon  in  1886. 
Not  often  has  Mr.  Moody  been  surrounded  by  a  corps 
of  speakers  so  largely  novel  in  personnel.  Yet  at  the 
close  of  the  convocation  it  was  felt  that  not  one  voice 
could  have  been  spared  ;  while  the  manner  in  which 
all  voices  blended  in  accentuating  certain  important 
teachings  of  the  utmost  practical  import  betokened  in 
wondrous  degree  the  immediate  presence  of  Him  who 
guides  into  all  truth.  In  selecting  from  the  numerous 
addresses  delivered,  so  many  of  some,  and  such  extracts 
from  others,  as  could  be  comprised  within  the  limits  of 
a  single  volume,  care  has  been  taken  to  preserve  the 
dominant  features  of  the  occasion.  It  is  likely,  there- 
fore, that  this  book  will  be  found  to  have  a  character 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

of  its  own.  Not  a  few  of  its  chapters  will  bear  fre- 
quent re-reading.  Beginning  with  a  vindication  of  the 
doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  the  perfection,  beauty, 
and  wealth  of  the  Divine  Word  are  unfolded  in  a  series 
of  expository  discourses,  which  are  given  not  only  on 
the  score  of  the  precious  lessons  with  which  they  are 
fraught,  but  as  examples  of  the  methods  employed  in 
Scripture  exegesis  by  eminent  masters  in  Israel.  Prom- 
inence is  given  to  Mr.  Moody's  question-drawer.  The 
sermons  recorded  from  his  lips  are  his  newest.  Per- 
suasions to  evangelical  activity  occupy  the  final  pages. 
In  words  of  sacred  writ  the  tenor  of  the  entire  work 
may  thus  be  denoted:  "Great  peace  have  they  which 
love  Thy  law."  "The  good  Shepherd  giveth  His  life 
for  the  sheep."     "  He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise." 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGB 

Young  Men  in  Action,     ........        7 

CHAPTER   n. 
Verbal  Inspiration, *      17 

CHAPTER  HI. 
'-'In  the  Beginning," 29 

CHAPTER   IV. 
The  Ten  Commandments, 46 

CHAPTER  V. 
Consecration  and  Blessing »        .      67 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Book  of  Amos, 87 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Satan  Fallen  from  Heaven, 105 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Abiding  in  Christ 117 

(5) 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

PAGE 

Justification  by  Faith „        .     134 

CHAPTER  X. 
Resurrection  of  the  Body, 150 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 162 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Operations  of  the  Spirit,       ....•,•     173 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Fighting  the  Good  Fight 189 

CHAPTER  XIV, 
Mr.  Moody's  Question-Drawer, 201 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Repeating  the  Life  of  Christ, 225 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Missionary  Work  in  China,    .......    244 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Evangelizing  the  World, 257 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Northfield  Nuggets 266 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
"What  hath  God  Wrought?" 279 


CHAPTER  I. 

YOUNG    MEN    IN    ACTION. 

A  Review,  by  Mr.  C.  K.  Ober,  of  One  Year's  Progress  in  the  Work 
of  the  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  with  a  Sketch 
of  the  Northfield  Summer  School  of  1888 — Far-Reaching  Results 
of  Former  Efforts — Inviting  Openings  for  Missionary  Service — 
Constant  Blessing  and  Guidance — Another  Helpful  Conference 
— Addresses  by  Eminent  Christian  Teachers — Mutual  Counsel 
and  Stimulus — Increased  Zeal. 

From  the  "  College  of  Colleges  "  at  Northfield  a  year 
ago  there  came  a  new  inspiration  into  the  colleges  them- 
selves. The  students  went  back  to  their  respective  in- 
stitutions, took  up  with  new  zest  the  various  lines  of 
organized  Christian  work  in  connection  with  the  Col- 
lege Associations,  and  the  year  has  been  one  of  exten- 
sion, development,  and  fruitage.  The  whole  body  of 
Intercollegiate  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and 
through  these  other  institutions  in  which  this  work  is 
not  yet  organized,  felt  the  stimulus.  But  not  only  was 
there  inspiration  and  power  in  the  stream  of  influence 
that  flowed  from  Northfield.  Results  of  a  more  tangi- 
ble character  are  seen,  a  few  of  which  may  be  briefly 
mentioned. 

Reference  may  first  be  made  to  the  Scotch  University 
delegation  and  the  college  deputation  work.  Professor 
Henry  Drummond,  who  came  from  Scotland  at  Mr. 
Moody's  request  to  meet  the  American  students  at 
Northfield,  before  leaving  home,  received  a  commission 
from  the  "  Students'  Meeting  "  at  Edinburgh  University 

(7) 


8  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTllllLLD. 

to  represent  them  in  a  tour  of  such  of  the  American  col- 
leges as  he  might  be  able  to  visit  before  his  return. 
Later  in  the  season  four  other  representatives  from  that 
university,  two  of  them  distinguished  professors,  joined 
Prof.  Drummond,  and  with  him  visited  some  of  the  lead- 
ing Eastern  colleges.  They  came  before  the  students  as 
a  deputation  from  the  Scotch  universities,  addressed 
large  audiences,  and  met  and  helped  many  individual 
students.  Their  tour  was  not  social,  but  evangelistic. 
In  addition  to  the  great  good  directly  accomplished,  the 
object-lesson  involved  in  their  visit  made  a  deep  im- 
pression, and  led  Yale,  Princeton,  Williams,  the  New 
York  colleges,  and  many  others,  to  send  out  deputations 
of  Christian  students  to  other  colleges  and  to  adjacent 
towns  until  this  became  a  marked  feature  in  the  inter- 
collegiate work  of  the  year.  Up  to  April  ist,  Princeton 
alone  had  sent  out  eighteen  such  deputations. 

A  second  direct  result  of  the  Northfield  meeting  was 
the  organizing  of  foreign  educational  work.  The  steps 
were  simple  and  natural.  To  Silver,  of  Princeton,  one 
of  the  more  than  seventy  students  offering  themselves 
for  foreign  missionary  work  at  the  Mount  Hermon  meet- 
ing two  years  ago,  there  came  an  opportunity  to  test  the 
sincerity  of  his  purpose  before  that  meeting  adjourned. 
In  response  to  a  definite  call  he  offered  himself,  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  Missionary  Board,  and  before  Princeton 
opened  in  September  was  on  his  way  to  his  position  as 
a  missionary  teacher  in  Ceylon.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  next  Northfield  meeting  it  was  rumored  that  in  an 
important  field  Christian  college  graduates  might  obtain 
influential  positions  at  living  salaries  with  time  and  op- 
portunity for  Christian  work.  With  the  above  instance 
in  mind,  after  searching  unsuccessfully  for  further 
knowledge,  a  cable  despatch  went  out  in  Mr.  Moody's 


YOUNG   MEN   IN  ACTION.  9 

name  requesting  particular  information.  The  receipt 
of  this  despatch,  though  the  answer  came  too  late  for 
the  Northfield  gatherings,  awakened  hope  and  expect- 
ancy in  the  minds  of  Christians  in  that  field,  and  urgent 
and  reiterated  requests  were  received  by  Mr.  Moody  to 
assist  in  securing  competent  Christian  men  for  these 
positions.  With  the  help  of  others,  after  careful  study 
of  the  field,  the  opportunity,  and  the  requirements,  ten 
picked  men  have  been  sent  out,  and  have  already  entered 
upon  their  work. 

A  third  result  is  a  marked  awakening  of  the  mission- 
ary spirit  in  the  metropolitan  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  of  America.  In  addition  to  the  350  college 
students  at  Northfield  in  July,  1887,  there  were  also 
present  many  Association  secretaries  and  prominent 
workers.  The  "  Plea  for  India,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cham- 
berlain, of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Board,  in  his  powerful 
address  at  this  meeting,  included  an  appeal  to  the  Amer- 
ican Associations.  "We  want,"  he  said,  "a  travelling 
secretary  for  India,  and  we  also  want  a  local  secretary 
in  each  of  the  four  great  presidential  cities  :  Bombay, 
Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Lahore."  This  appeal  was  not 
lost  upon  the  Association  representation  present,  though 
it  did  not  yet  appear  just  how  this  work  could  be  taken 
up.  Loyal  to  their  Churches,  they  must  wait  the  call  of 
the  Churches*  representatives,  the  missionaries  upon  any 
given  field,  as  the  indispensable  condition  of  embarking 
in  such  an  enterprise.  But  the  Spirit  of  Him  who  an- 
swers before  His  people  call  had  fanned  into  a  flame 
the  spark  of  missionary  consecration  in  many  of  the 
American  metropolitan  Associations  months  before  the 
call  to  this  country  for  an  experienced  General  Secretary 
had  been  signed  by  the  nearly  seventy  missionaries  in 
Madras. 


10  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

The  Meeting  of  1888. 

During  the  spring  of  1888,  Mr.  Moody,  for  the  third 
time,  sent  an  invitation  to  the  members  of  the  College 
Young  Men's  Christian  Asso  lations  throughout  the 
United  States  and  British  Provinces  to  come  together? 
at  his  home  in  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  for  Bible 
study,  and  for  conference  about  Christian  work.  They 
responded  heartily.  The  gathering  was  held  in  the  first 
part  of  July  in  the  buildings  of  the  Northfield  Sem- 
inary. Mr.  Moody  not  only  opened  these  buildings  for 
the  use  of  the  students,  but  also  gave  his  time,  energy, 
and  minute  supervision  to  make  the  conference  suc- 
cessful. 

About  four  hundred  students  were  present  from  over 
ninet)'  colleges.  Every  leading  college  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  was  represented.  As  was  expected, 
the  colleges  in  the  East  sent  the  largest  delegations. 
Yale  led  with  nearly  forty  men.  Oberlin,  over  five  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  sent  over  twenty  ;  and  Cornell, 
Princeton,  and  Amherst  were  represented  by  delegations 
fully  as  large.  The  South  and  Canada  were  more 
wddely  represented  than  ever;  but  the  Western  dele- 
gations were  no  larger  than  those  of  last  year. 

The  most  notable  feature  in  the  attendance  this  year 
was  the  strong  delegation  from  the  European  universi- 
ties. There  were  twelve  representative  men  from  the 
Universities  of  Oxford,  Cambridge,  Edinburgh,  and 
Utrecht.  The  American  students  gave  them  a  most 
hearty  welcome.  Their  manly  bearing,  their  thorough 
consecration,  and  the  great  emphasis  which  they  laid 
upon  living  the  life — upon  carrying  religion  out  into  all 
the  little  and  great  duties  and  relations  of  life — made  a 
lasting  impression  upon  all  who  came  in  contact  with 


YOUNG  MEN  IN  ACTION.  II 

them.  They  also  gave  many  suggestive  hints  about 
holiday  mission  work  among  all  classes  of  society. 
They  in  their  turn  received  benefit  from  the  conference; 
for  they  went  home  to  their  universities  firmly  con- 
vinced of  the  need  of  a  stronger  and  more  practical 
organization  for  religious  work  in  their  individual  col- 
leges, and  persuaded  also  of  the  great  benefit  to  be  de- 
rived from  intercollegiate  co-operation  in  religious 
work.  Besides  the  students,  there  were  present  many 
pastors,  professors,  prominent  Association  workers,  and 
leading  philanthropists. 

The  corps  of  speakers  was  representative  and  able. 
Mr.  Moody  presided  at  the  leading  meetings,  which  were 
held  at  lo  a.m.  and  8  p.m.  He  was  at  his  best.  His 
sermons  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Atonement,  Daniel, 
Qualifications  for  the  Christian  Worker  ;  his  short  talks 
on  methods  of  Bible  study  and  of  Christian  work  ;  his 
question-box,  packed  with  sound  spiritual  advice ; — 
all  these  were  a  source  of  constant  inspiration.  The 
Oriental  sidelights  of  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  and  his 
thrilling  testimony  and  appeal  on  personal  work,  will 
never  be  forgotten.  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  gave  five 
of  his  famous  expository  sermons.  Not  only  did  they 
make  a  deep  impression  because  of  their  subject-mat- 
ter, but  they  also  convinced  the  young  men  present 
of  the  tremendous  power  of  expository  preaching. 
Bishop  Hendrix,  among  other  addresses,  had  one  of 
peculiar  power  and  appropriateness  on  laymen  as  factors 
in  religious  work.  Dr.  McKenzie,  of  Cambridge,  deeply 
impressed  the  college  men  with  his  profound  thought 
and  eloquent  language.  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper,  of  Yale, 
although  present  but  one  day,  succeeded  in  making  such 
an  impression  upon  the  students  with  his  address  on  the 
inductive  system  of  Bible  study — accompanied  with  an 


12  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

illustrative  analysis  of  the  Book  of  Amos — that  the 
method  will  be  introduced  by  a  majority  of  them  in 
their  colleges.  The  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor  exerted  a 
deep  spiritual  influence  on  the  entire  conference.  His 
command  of  the  Scriptures,  his  unwavering  faith  in 
them,  and  his  remarkable  trust  in  God — combined  to 
make  him  a  man  of  uncommon  power. 

An  hour  was  spent  each  morning  in  discussing  the 
best  Association  methods.  These  conferences  were  con- 
ducted by  College  Secretaries  C.  K.  Ober  and  J.  R.  Mott. 
They  were  greatly  assisted  by  the  General  Secretary 
of  the  International  Committee,  Mr.  Richard  C.  Morse, 
State  Secretaries  Hall  of  New  York,  Gordon  of  Con- 
necticut, Humphrey  of  Indiana,  S.  M.  Sayford,  the  col- 
lege evangelist,  James  McConaughy,  General  Secretary 
of  the  New  York  City  Association,  and  other  noted  As- 
sociation men.  The  following  are  some  of  the  most 
important  topics  discussed: 

How  to  Reach  and  Hold  New  Students. 

The  Evangelistic  Meeting. 

The  Bible  Training  Class  and  other  Methods  of  Bible  Study. 

The  Social  Purity  Work  in  College. 

The  General  Secretaryship  and  its  Claims  on  College  Men. 

Systematic  Personal  Work. 

Thorough  Organization  ;  its  Importance  and  its  Elements  of 
Success. 

Deputation  Work. 

The  Relation  of  the  Visiting  College  Secretary  to  the  Various  Col- 
lege Associations. 

The  Missionary  Department  of  the  College  Associations,  including 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  toward  Foreign  Missions. 

Every  day  at  sunset  a  missionary  meeting  was  held 
"  on  the  little  hill  just  back  of  Mr.  Moody's  house." 
These  meetings  were  conducted  by  the  student  volun- 
teers.    About  seventy  of  the  old  volunteers  were  pres- 


YOUNG   MEN   IN  ACTION.  I3 

ent,  and,  before  the  close  of  the  conference,  they  were 
joined  by  thirty  new  volunteers.  The  Rev.  J.  Hudson 
Taylor,  founder  and  leader  of  the  China  Inland  Mis- 
sion ;  the  Rev.  C.  W.  Chamberlain,  a  missionary  from 
Brazil,  and  Mr.  Mateer,  founder  of  the  Interseminary 
Missionary  Alliance,  rendered  invaluable  assistance  in 
these  meetings.  Mr.  R.  P.  Wilder,  who  has  done  so 
much  in  extending  the  student  volunteer  movement 
toward  foreign  missions,  was  the  moving  spirit  in  the 
missionary  department  of  the  conference. 

The  delegation  meetings  were  among  the  most  help- 
ful features  of  the  encampment.  They  were  held  each 
day,  and  usually  after  all  the  other  exercises.  Each 
delegation  had  one  of  these  daily  meetings  ;  or  where 
the  delegation  was  too  small,  a  number  of  colleges 
combined  to  hold  one.  They  met  in  some  private  room 
or  tent,  or  under  some  tree.  In  these  meetings  the  men 
discussed  and  prayed  for  the  work  of  their  home  col- 
leges. The  influence  of  these  little  gatherings  cannot 
be  overestimated.  They  bound  the  delegates  of  each 
group  together,  and  sent  them  back  to  their  colleges  a 
unit  in  spirit  and  in  determination  to  stand  together  in 
carrying  forward  the  religious  work  during  the  year. 
Already  the  influence  of  these  meetings  can  be  traced 
in  the  different  Associations. 

This  year  for  the  first  time  the  entire  afternoon  was 
given  up  to  athletic  sports.  Baseball,  cricket,  football, 
tennis,  swimming,  rowing,  tramping — in  fact,  all  the 
principal  forms  of  outdoor  recreation,  were  heartily  car- 
ried on.  Several  afternoons  were  devoted  to  contests 
between  the  different  colleges.  The  athletic  depart- 
ment was  under  the  direction  of  Stagg  of  Yale,  Cowan 
of  Princeton,  and  Torrey  of  Harvard. 

The  sad  death  by  drowning  of  Charles  L.  Griggs,  of 


14  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

Cornell  University,  on  July  4th,  cast  a  deep  shadow 
over  the  conference.  It  was  not,  however,  without  a 
good  influence  ;  for  it  gave  an  intensity  of  spirit  to  the 
remaining  meetings  which  was  felt  to  the  closing  day. 

Among  the  many  immediate  beneficial  effects  of  the 
conference  this  year  only  a  few  can  be  noted: 

1.  Every  delegate  received  a  decided  spiritual  quick- 
ening, which  manifested  itself  in  the  home  churches 
and  wherever  the  delegates  spent  their  summer,  and  is 
already  being  felt  in  their  colleges. 

2.  The  continued  emphasis  laid  upon  the  importance 
of  the  Word  of  God  in  college  sent  a  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates back  to  their  colleges  resolved  that  there  shall  be 
far  more  Bible  study  in  them  than  in.  the  past. 

3.  The  need  of  a  perfect  organization  was  realized  by 
scores  of  the  Associations  represented.  The  reports  of 
the  different  Associations  showed  that  those  which  are 
most  thoroughly  organized  have  done  the  most  effective 
work. 

4.  The  key-note  of  the  conference  this  year  was  in- 
dividual work.  All  the  meetings  converged  on  this  one 
point.  As  a  consequence,  every  delegate  solemnly 
pledged  himself  in  secret  to  do  far  more  for  the  Master 
in  his  future  hand-to-hand  contact  with  men. 

5.  The  conference  impressed  all,  as  never  before,  with 
the  breadth  and  wonderful  possibilities  of  the  College 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  movement,  having 
for  its  object  the  salvation  of  all  the  young  men  of  the 
world. 

Stepping  Forward. 

The  outlook  for  the  coming  college  year  in  the  work 
of  the  intercollegiate  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions is  full  of  promise,  not  only  for  its  development  in 
this  country  but  for  its  extension    abroad.     Mr.  L.  D. 


YOUNG   MEN   IN  ACTION.  1 5 

Wishard,  of  Princeton,  the  pioneer  College  Secretary, 
after  a  continuous  service  in  the  American  colleges  for 
more  than  eleven  years,  enters  this  autumn  under  the 
World's  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations upon  a  tour  of  several  years  in  the  Orient  as 
a  representative  of  that  committee  and  of  intercollegiate 
co-operation  in  Christian  work  among  the  students  of 
Japan,  China,  India,  Turkey,  Syria,  and  other  mission 
fields. 

As  Secretaries  of  the  International  Committee,  Mr. 
C.  K.  Ober,  of  Williams,  now  in  his  fourth  year  of  service 
in  this  special  field,  and  Mr.  J.  R.  Mott,  of  Cornell,  class 
of  '88,  will  seek  to  develop  and  stimulate  the  work  of 
the  nearly  three  hundred  Associations  in  the  American 
colleges.  Associated  with  them  for  one-half  of  his  time 
is  Mr.  F.  K.  Sanders,  of  Yale,  who  is  also  aiding  Prof. 
W.  R.  Harper,  of  Yale  University,  in  his  Hebrew  Cor- 
respondence work,  Mr.  Sanders  will  act  as  editor  of 
The  Intercollegia?i,  and  also  give  his  Sundays  to  visiting 
and  strengthening  the  Associations.  Equally  encourag- 
ing is  the  outlook  of  the  International  Committee's  work 
in  the  Metropolitan,  Railroad,  German,  and  other  de- 
partments of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations. 
All  this  wide  work  for  young  men  constitutes  one  great 
movement,  differing  in  methods  according  to  the  class 
or  circumstances  of  young  men  to  be  reached,  but  mani- 
festing unity  in  fundamental  principles,  sympathy  in  the 
objects  to  be  attained,  and  harmony  in  their  working 
relations. 

The  outlook  for  work  in  the  colleges  this  year  in> 
eludes  also  two  special  features  of  considerable  interest. 
Mr.  R.  P.  Wilder,  who,  with  Mr.  J.  N.  Forman,  made 
the  missionary  tour  of  the  colleges  two  years  ago,  is 
to  give  another  year  to  college  visitation  in  strengthen- 


1 6  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

ing  the  missionary  departments  of  the  College  Associa- 
tions. 

Mr.  S.  M.  Sayfftrd,  who  for  several  years  was  the  State 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  and  ha§  for  the  past  six  years  been  devot- 
ing himself  wholly  to  Gospel  work,  is  to  give  this  col- 
lege year  entirely  to  work  among  students,  and  will  be 
heartily  welcomed  in  many  colleges. 

These  three  successive  summer  gatherings  of  college 
students,  called  together  by  Mr.  Moody  and  directed  by 
his  wise  Christian  leadership,  have  exerted,  by  the  bless- 
ing and  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  mighty  and 
quickening  influence  upon  multitudes  of  college  under- 
graduates. They  have  developed  among  these  students 
throughout  the  continent  an  unexampled  enthusiasm  in 
Bible  study  and  Christian  work.  Each  succeeding  year 
has  borne  its  testimony  to  the  steady  growth  of  these 
good  influences.  In  many  colleges  a  desire  for  a  larger 
representation  at  future  meetings  is  expressed.  This  is 
echoed  from  over  the  sea  by  the  students  who  have 
come  across  the  Atlantic  to  attend  these  summer  schools, 
and  who  return  each  time  to  increase  the  numbers  of 
those  who,  the  next  year,  follow  their  example.  Thus 
already  from  both  sides  of  the  ocean  we  hear  prayer 
and  expectation  concerning  the  encampment  of  1889, 
with  its  blessed  reports  of  the  Christian  college  year 
and  its  quickening  atmosphere  of  Bible  study,  spiritual 
teaching,  delightful  Christian  fellowship,  and  wholesome 
recreation. 


CHAPTER  II. 

VERBAL    INSPIRATION. 

Address  by  the  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  D.D.,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission — No  Difficulty  Presented  by  Variations  in  Manuscripts 
— Testimony  of  the  Word  to  Itself — Stress  Placed  Upon  Single 
Words— Precision  of  Expression  Necessary  in  Revelation — Fidel- 
ity of  God  to  His  Promises — Lovers  of  the  Word  Shall  Prosper. 

Two  questions  have  been  put  into  my  hands  on  the 
subject  of  inspiration.  One  is  :  "  Are  we  not  in  danger 
of  trying  to  make  Scripture  mean  too  much — for  instance, 
by  insisting  on  verbal  inspiration  ?  "  Well,  dear  friends  ; 
try  and  make  it  mean  too  much.  Try  and  get  half  of  its 
fullness.  I  don't  think  there  is  very  much  danger  in 
this  way.  The  other  question  is  :  "  Do  the  Scriptures 
teach  that  they  are  verbally  inspired  ? "  That  is  a  very 
important  question  indeed,  and  the  suggestion  has  been 
made  to  me  that  I  should  say  something  as  to  how  far 
verbal  inspiration  is  consistent  with  the  fact  that  there 
are  so  many  different  manuscripts.  With  regard  to  the 
manuscripts,  no  one  believes  that  every  manuscript  is 
verbally  and  distinctly  inspired,  and  that  no  copyist's 
mistake  may  not  have  crept  in.  But  the  manuscripts 
are  very  numerous,  and  they  have  been  very  carefully 
compared,  and  many  of  you  have  the  critical  apparatus 
at  hand  which  will  enable  you  to  discover  for  yourselves 
what  is  the  extent  of  the  variations.  Well  ;  I  needn't 
tell  you  as  college  men  that  three-fourths  of  them  are 
simply  questions  that  may  be  compared  in  English  with 
the  question  whether  we  are  going  to  spell  a  certain  syl- 

(17) 


1 8  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

lable  with  an  ou  after  the  French  fashion,  or  with  an  o 
after  the  Latin  fashion.  It  is  a  mere  matter  of  spelling. 
There  is  such  a  general  consensus  of  all  the  manuscripts 
that  it  isn't  a  matter  of  insuperable  difficulty  to  discov- 
er the  fact  that  no  question  of  doctrine  anywhere  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation  is  affected  by  any  doubtful  read- 
ing. There  is  no  more  perplexity  from  variations  in 
manuscripts  than  if  we  were  to  say  :  "  How  shall  we  as- 
certain what  is  the  perfect  shape  of  a  leaf  when  the  cater- 
pillars have  been  all  through  the  tree  ?  "  Look  among 
the  fragments,  and  you  will  find  at  least  one  side  of  a 
leaf,  and  then  you  will  find  the  other  side  of  one,  and 
by  putting  them  together  you  will  very  easily  find  the 
shape  of  a  perfect  leaf.  And  then  there  may  be  a  good 
many  perfect  leaves  left  on  the  tree.  Look  carefully, 
and  you  may  find  one. 

What  the  Scriptures  teach,  however,  on  inspiration  is 
a  very  important  question,  and  I  think  we  shall  not 
study  the  Scriptures  without  ascertaining  the  mind  of 
God  on  the  subject.  I  need  scarcely  refer  you  to  that 
familiar  passage  in  2  Timothy  iii.  16,  17  :  "All  Scrip- 
ture is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness  :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."  There  is  • 
another  equally  familiar  one  in  2  Peter  i.  21  :  "For  the 
prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of  man  :  but 
holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  You  are  also  familiar  with  the  use  made  in 
Scripture  of  quotations  from  one  book  in  another.  The 
Holy  Spirit  inspired  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  in  the  3d  * 
chapter  of  Galatians  he  has  a  very  important  matter  to 
discuss  with  the  people  who  are  being  carried  away  by 
Judaizing  teachers.     Now,  on  what  does  he  base  his  ar- 


VERBAL  INSPIRATION.  1 9 

gument  in  the  3d  chapter  and  i6th  verse  ?  He  wants  to 
prove  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  seed  of  Abraham  that  was 
promised  by  God,  and  that  the  law,  which  came  in  after 
the  promise  to  Abraham,  could  not  disannul  the  promise 
that  was  given  before  it.  Here  is  his  argument.  "  He 
saith  not.  And  to  seeds" — the  plural — "as  of  many; 
but  as  of  one.  And  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ."  Here 
not  merely  one  word,  but  even  the  number  of  the  word — 
whether  it  is  singular  or  plural — is  the  argument  :  the 
word  is  "  seed,"  and  not  "  seeds,"  as  of  many.  He  shows 
that  the  neuter  plural — which  is  so  frequently  used  in 
a  very  comprehensive  way — is  not  employed  here  ;  and 
on  that  circumstance  he  builds  this  argument  :  that 
Christ  is  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,  and  that  that  prom 
ise  could  not  be  disannulled  by  the  law  which  came  430 
years  afterwards.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  in  His  discussion 
with  the  Sadducees  on  the  question  of  the  resurrection 
does  not  bring  half-a-dozen  Scripture  proofs  and  say  : 
"  From  the  general  tenor  of  these  remarks  you  will  see  that 
the  resurrection  was  in  God's  mind."  He  quotes  one  single 
passage,  and  He  builds  His  argument  on  the  use  of  one 
single  word.  He  quotes  the  passage  in  which  God  calls 
Himself  the  Elohim  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  His 
argument  is  :  "  God  did  not  call  Himself  the  Jehovah 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  He  called  Himself  the 
Elohim  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  and  you  Israel- 
ites know  very  well  that  that  is  a  word  which  is  used 
only  with  reference  to  living  persons  and  living  things. 
Therefore  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  still  living." 
Again,  when  Satan  came  to  tempt  Christ,  He  met  every 
assault  by  quoting  the  Word  of  God.  As  the  Saviour 
of  the  world — as  an  inspired  Teacher — He  might  very 
well  have  dealt  with  Satan  directly  ;  but  He  quotes  this 
precious  Word  of  God,  and  refutes  Satan  with  what  is 


20  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

written.  "  It  is  written,"  and  what  is  written  cannot  be 
broken.  He  doesn't  mean  merely  that  the  general  idea 
of  Scripture  is  true  ;  but  whatever  is  written  in  the 
Word  of  God  cannot  be  broken.  Again,  He  says  in  the 
5th  of  Matthew  :  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Till  Heaven 
and  earth  pass  away  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise 
pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  If  that  expres- 
sion, "  Not  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  pass  from  the  law 
till  all  be  fulfilled  " — if  that  doesn't  mean  the  verbal  in- 
spiration of  Scripture,  all  I  can  say  is,  I  don't  under- 
stand the  passage  at  all.  If  you  were  to  take  a  docu- 
ment and  say  :  "  Here  is  a  proclamation  from  our  Gov- 
ernment here,  and  I  can't  tell  whether  it  is  a  correct 
transcription  of  the  proclamation  or  not  " — what  would 
it  be  worth  ?  But  if  you  should  say  :  "  I  can  tell  you 
there  is  not  a  dot  of  an  i  or  the  crossing  of  a  /  that 
hasn't  behind  it  the  full  authority  of  the  Government " 
— how  different  would  be  the  effect  !  From  this  state- 
ment of  Christ  we  gather  that  every  letter  of  the  law  is 
just  as  God  has  given  it.  He  claimed  that  it  was  ver- 
bally accurate — that  is,  that  every  letter  was  correct  in 
it.  Just  see  for  a  moment  what  is  the  use  of  that  jot,  or 
yod,  in  Hebrew.  It  is  the  great  letter  of  inflection. 
How  do  you  form  the  Hebrew  singular  into  the  plural  ? 
Very  often  by  that  letter.  How  do  you  indicate  certain 
grammatical  inflections  in  a  verb  ?  By  means  of  that 
letter.  Then  what  Christ  meant  was  that  not  only  every 
word  but  every  inflection  of  every  word  is  inspired  and 
unchangeable.  Isn't  that  a  fair  understanding  of  our 
Saviour's  words  ?  Take  Cruden's  Concordance  and  look 
at  that  word  "word,"  and  see  in  how  many  instances 
the  expression  "  the  word  of  God  "  is  used  in  the  plural  : 
"the  words  of  God."  They  are  far  too  numerous  to 
bring  up  here.     When  the  Apostle  Paul  is  writing  to  the 


VERBAL   INSPIRATION.  21 

Corinthians  he  tells  them  that  he  not  only  preaches  the 
truth  in  a  general  way,  but  he  says  :  "  Which  things  also 
we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man's  wisdom  teach- 
eth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  It  was  so  in 
olden  time.  You  remember  when  Balaam  claimed  that 
the  words  he  spake  were  from  God,  he  said  that  he  whose 
"eyes  were  open"  and  had  "heard  the  words  of  God" 
said  so-and-so.  Moses  told  the  Israelites  all  the  words 
that  the  Lord  had  spoken — not  merely  their  general 
purport. 

How  could  the  mind  of  God  be  conveyed  except  in 
words?  You  know  quite  well  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  perfect  synonym.  You  can't  express  a  thought 
without  modification  in  different  language.  You  can't 
modify  a  sentence  without  modifying  the  meaning  of 
the  thought  to  some  slight  extent.  Now,  God  has  given 
His  Word  in  order  that  we  can  rest  upon  it.  God  said 
to  Isaiah  :  "  I  have  put  My  words  in  thy  mouth."  The 
Lord  Jesus  said  :  "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you  I 
speak  not  of  Myself  :  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth  in 
Me,  He  doeth  the  works,"  If  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  did  not  speak  His  own  words,  can  we  doubt 
that  equal  inspiration  was  given  to  other  messengers  who 
needed  it  far  more  than  Christ  did  ?  If  you  will  look 
through  a  few  passages  in  the  Gospel  of  John — v.  47  ; 
xii.  47  ;  xiv.  23  ;  xv.  7  ;  xvii.  8  —  you  will  see  what 
Christ  Himself  says  with  regard  to  the  words  that  were 
given.  We  will  just  look  at  the  last  passage  and  then 
pass  on — John  xvii.  8.  Our  Saviour  in  that  wonderful 
prayer  that  He  offered  before  He  left  the  earth,  said  :  "  I 
have  given  unto  them  the  words  which  Thou  gavest  Me  ; 
and  they  have  received  them,  and  have  known  surely 
that  I  came  out  from  Thee,  and  they  have  believed  that 
Thou  didst  send  Me."    The  friends  of  God  receive  God's 


22  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

words.  God's  Word  is  found  by  the  prophet,  and  he 
eats  it.     It  is  like  honey  to  his  taste. 

And  if  the  Scriptures  were  not  verbally  inspired,  what 
would  be  the  alternative  ?  Everybody  would  have  to 
find  out  how  much  truth  was  in  it  by  his  own  wits. 
Suppose  there  is  a  chart  of  a  dangerous  coast.  It  gives 
only  a  general  outline.  The  navigator  finds  that  that 
mark  indicating  a  rock  is  merely  to  let  him  know  that 
somewhere  there  is  such  a  rock  to  be  found.  What  is 
the  use  of  that  chart  ?  Or  suppose  there  is  a  compass 
by  which  he  is  sailing.  He  knows  that  that  compass  is 
diverted  by  some  object — he  doesn't  know  how  much. 
Of  what  use  is  it  to  him  ?  If  God's  Word  didn't  mean 
what  it  said,  of  what  use  would  it  be  to  me  ?  Suppose 
I  should  deal  in  this  way  with  a  commercial  document : 
Some  one  sends  me  a  bank-note  for  a  thousand  pounds. 
Sometimes,  you  know,  a  friend  who  wishes  to  give  a 
thousand  pounds  to  the  China  Inland  Mission  doesn't 
want  it  to  be  known,  and  so  he  gets  a  bank-note,  in 
which  no  signature  is  necessary.  He  doesn't  want  even 
the  bank-clerk  to  know  what  he  is  giving — it  is  for  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  know  it,  and  nobody  else.  Well,  suppose 
I  get  a  Bank  of  England  note  of  a  thousand  pounds, 
and  I  say :  "  I  don't  for  a  moment  imagine  that  he 
means  exactly  what  he  says.  No  doubt  there  is  a  gen- 
eral truth  in  it.  He  is  going  to  do  something  liberal. 
I  should  be  disappointed  if  I  shouldn't  get  at  least  five 
pounds.  Perhaps  it  will  be  ten."  Why,  if  people  were 
to  hear  a  man  talking  like  that,  wouldn't  they  assume 
that  such  a  man  was  a  fool  ?  Dear  friends,  don't  let 
any  one  shake  your  confidence  in  the  Word  of  God. 
Eat  and  see  if  it  isn't  good  nourishment.  Study  it  care- 
fully.    Look  it  through  and  through. 

I  have  had  all  sorts  of  experiences  in  all  sorts  of  cir- 


VERBAL   INSPIRATION.  23 

cumstances,  and  when  I  have  come  to  God  and  pleaded 
His  own  promises  in  His  own  Word,  I  have  never  been 
disappointed.  I  have  been  in  circumstances  of  great 
difficulty,  and  have  been  led  to  ask  Him  for  remarkable 
help.  I  was  nearly  wrecked  when  I  was  going  out  to 
China  the  first  time.  Our  vessel  was  becalmed,  and 
gradually  drifting  upon  the  coast  of  New  Guinea.  We 
could  see  the  savages  on  the  shore.  They  had  kindled 
a  fire,  and  were  evidently  expecting  a  good  supper 
that  night.  When  I  was  a  medical  student  some  of  the 
other  students  used  to  jeer  at  me  because  I  was  going 
among  the  heathen,  and  they  would  talk  about  "cold 
missionary."  Well,  it  did  look  that  night  as  if  some- 
body was  going  to  have  a  piece  of  hot  missionary.  The 
captain  said  to  me  :  '*  We  can't  do  anything  else  but  let 
down  the  long-boat."  They  had  tried  to  turn  the  head 
of  the  vessel  around  from  the  shore,  but  in  vain.  We 
had  been  becalmed  for  several  weeks,  with  never  a 
breeze,  or  any  sign  of  one.  In  a  few  minutes  we  would 
be  among  the  coral  reefs.  We  would  be  at  the  mercy  of 
those  savages,  and  they  didn't  look  as  if  they  had  much 
mercy.  "  Well,"-  I  said,  "  there  is  one  thing  we  haven't 
done  yet.  Let  the  Christians  on  board  pray  about  it." 
There  was  a  black  man  on  board,  a  steward,  who  was  a 
very  sweet  Christian  man,  and  the  captain  was  a  Chris- 
tian, and  myself.  I  proposed  that  we  shculd  retire  to 
our  cabins,  and  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
ask  our  Father,  and  His  Father,  for  a  breeze  immediate- 
ly. They  agreed.  I  went  to  my  cabin,  and  told  the 
Lord  that  I  was  just  on  my  way  to  China  ;  that  He  had 
sent  me  ;  and  that  I  couldn't  get  there  if  I  was  ship- 
wrecked and  killed  ;  and  then  I  was  going  on  to  ask 
Him  for  a  breeze,  but  I  felt  so  confident  about  it  that  I 
couldn't  ask  Him,     So  I  went  up  on  deck.     There  was 


24  COLI.KGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIEI.D. 

the  second  ofTicer,  the  chief  mate — a  very  godless  man, 
I  went  up  to  him  and  said  :  "  If  I  were  you  I  would  let 
down  the  mainsail."  Said  he  :  "What  do  you  want  me 
to  let  down  the  mainsail  for  ?"  I  said  :  "  We  have  been 
praying  for  a  breeze,  and  it  is  coming  directly,  and  the 
sooner  we  are  ready  for  it  the  better."  With  an  oath  he 
said  he  would  rather  see  a  breeze  than  hear  of  one.  As 
he  was  speaking  I  instinctively  looked  up,  and  noticed 
that  one  of  the  sails  was  quivering  with  the  coming 
breeze.  Said  I  :  "  Don't  you  see  that  the  corners  of  the 
royals  are  already  shaking  ?  My  dear  fellow,  there  is  a 
good  breeze  coming,  and  we  had  better  be  ready  for  it." 
Of  course,  the  mate  went  to  work,  and  soon  the  sailors 
were  tramping  over  the  deck.  Before  the  sails  were  set 
the  wind  was  down  upon  us.  The  captain  came  up  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  He  saw  that  our  prayers  had 
been  answered  ;  and  we  didn't  forget  to  praise  God  for 
so  signal  a  deliverance  from  the  perils  to  which  we  were 
exposed.  We  have  been  penniless  in  the  interior  of  Chi- 
na ;  but  we  simply  turn  to  this  book,  and  draw  a  check, 
and  it  is  always  honored. 

Now,  when  you  can  take  Scripture  and  test  it  again, 
and  again,  and  again,  in  ten  thousand  different  circum- 
stances of  life — when  you  find  at  every  turn  there  is  some- 
thing appropriate,  and  a  familiar  passage  that  perhaps 
you  learned  in  childhood  and  never  understood  comes 
to  your  mind  when  you  need  it,  and  just  fits  your  case — 
when  you  find  that  God  is  always  true  to  His  promises 
— isn't  all  this  evidence  of  verbal  inspiration  ?  It  is 
words  that  proceed  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  ;  not  ideas. 
There  are  no  unclothed  ideas.  You  can't  think  without 
thought  formulating  itself  in  words.  Put  the  Word  of 
God  to  the  test.  The  more  you  test  it,  and  prove  it,  the 
more  satisfied  you  will  be. 


VERBAL   INSPIRATION.  2$ 

Let  US  look  for  a  moment  at  the  first  Psalm.  It  says 
that  if  you  will  fulfil  certain  conditions,  whatsoevei^  you 
do  shall  prosper.  Find  a  man  who  has  fulfilled  the 
conditions  and  hasn't  prospered  in  whatsoever  he  has 
undertaken,  and  then  you  will  have  proof  that  this 
Psalm  is  not  verbally  inspired.  What  does  it  say : 
"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of 
the  ungodly."  It  isn't,  "  that  walketh  in  ungodly  coun- 
sel," mind  you.  A  good  many  people  walk  in  the  coun- 
sel of  the  ungodly  just  because  it  isn't  ungodly  counsel. 
It  is  the  "  counsel  of  the  ungodly"  that  is  to  be  avoided. 
I  am  afraid  there  are  churches  that  sometimes  walk  in 
the  counsel  of  the  ungodly.  Sometimes  a  matter  comes 
up,  and  some  counsellor  in  the  church  will  say  :  "  Well, 
the  first  thing  is  to  secure  the  money."  That  is  the 
*' counsel  of  the  ungodly."  The  first  thing  is  to  know 
the  mind  of  God,  and  secure  the  blessing  of  God. 
There  are  a  great  many  maxims  of  the  ungodly — and 
some  of  them  are  very  good  when  they  are  properly  in- 
terpreted. An  example  may  be  found  in  the  maxim, 
''Take  care  of  number  one."  Who  is  number  one? 
The  ungodly  man  says  :  "  I  am  number  one."  But  God 
is  number  one.  Take  care  of  God's  interests  first,  and 
He  will  look  after  yours.  "  The  counsel  of  the  ungod- 
ly," then,  is  something  different  from  ungodly  counsel. 
And  you  know,  "  standing  in  the  way  of  sinners  "  doesn't 
mean  that  we  do  wrong  when  we  go  am.ong  sinners  to 
shine  among  them  as  lights  in  the  world.  But  if  we  are 
constantly  among  them  without  the  purpose  of  doing 
them  good,  we  shall  very  soon  find  that  "  evil  communi- 
cations corrupt  good  manners."  Then  there  is  a  warn- 
ing against  sitting  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful.  What 
does  that  mean  ?  It  includes  a  good  deal  more,  per- 
haps, than  we  commonly  think.    If  a  man  goes  to  church 


26  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

to  criticise,  is  he  not  sitting  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful  ? 
"  But  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  :  and  in  His 
law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  night."  A  man  who 
loves  the  Word  of  God — a  man  who  dwells  upon  what 
it  says — a  man  who  keeps  a  little  text  in  his  mind  to 
think  about  as  he  is  walking  on  his  way,  and  that  medi- 
tates upon  it  day  and  night — "  whatsoever  he  doeth 
shall  prosper."  .  If  you  can  find  a  m.an  who  carries  out 
this  direction  and  doesn't  prosper,  you  can  doubt  the 
inspiration  of  the  first  Psalm  ;  but  find  the  man  first. 
Put  the  thing  to  the  test  and  see  if  it  isn't  so.  I  have 
very,  very  imperfectly  and  faultily  carried  out  this  direc- 
tion for  a  good  many  years  past,  and  it  is  wonderful 
how  the  Lord  has  made  things  to  prosper  that  I  have 
been  connected  with.  Things  that  have  seemed  very 
unlikely  to  prosper  He  has  made  to  prosper. 

Look  at  Joshua  as  an  example.  He  was  to  be  "  strong 
and  very  courageous " — not  to  fight  battles  and  put 
down  the  Canaanites,  but  to  observe  to  do  all  that  the 
Lord  directed,  because  the  Lord's  directions  were  verb- 
ally in-pired,  and  they  were  inspired  for  the  purpose  of 
making  him  who  observed  them  prosperous  in  his  work. 
**  Thou  shalt  meditate  therein  day  and  night,  that  thou 
mayest  observe  to  do  according  to  all  that  is  written 
therein  ;  for  then  thou  shalt  make  thy  way  prosperous, 
and  then  thou  shalt  have  good  success."  When  Solo- 
mon came  to  the  throne  and  had  a  great  temple  to 
build,  God  told  him  that  if  he  would  observe  all  the  things 
that  were  written  in  the  law,  and  do  them,  he  would  be 
prosperous  in  building  the  temple  and  in  governing  the 
realm.  The  book  of  Ezra  is  a  very  interesting  study. 
If  you  have  never  gone  through  it,  take  time  to  do  so. 
There  is  a  gap  of  fifty-nine  years  between  the  sixth  and 
seventh  chapters.    The  people  were  given  a  commission 


VERBAL  INSPIRATION.  2/ 

to  build  a  temple  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  after  twelve  years 
they  hadn't  completed  it  yet,  and  they  were  so  remiss 
that  God  allowed  obstacles  to  spring  up,  and  the  work 
was  stopped  and  nothing  done  for  fifty-nine  years.  Then 
there  arose  a  man  after  God's  own  heart.  "  He  was  a 
ready  scribe  in  the  law  of  Moses."  *'  Ezra  had  prepared 
his  heart  to  seek  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  to  do  it." 
That  was  the  man  that  God  used  in  the  building  of 
the  temple.  Whatsoever  that  man  did,  the  Lord  pros- 
pered it. 

Here  is  a  promise  to  test :  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me, 
as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water."  Do  you  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  Giver  of  this  full  blessing  ?  It 
doesn't  mean,  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me  for  the  pardon 
of  his  sins,"  because  there  are  many  persons  who  are 
pardoned  and  who  have  not  this  fullness  of  blessing — 
you  can  see  that  rivers  of  living  water  do  not  rush  out 
from  them.  But  it  is  :  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me  as 
the  Giver  of  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit."  Look  also  at 
that  other  passage  :  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst."  I  accept  that 
promise.  I  do  believe  I  shall  never  thirst  again.  I  do 
believe  that  from  me — poor  little  me — rivers  shall  flow, 
rivers  of  living  water  ;  and  God  shall  be  glorified,  and 
souls  shall  be  saved.  If  we  refuse  to  accept  the  prom- 
ises of  God,  we  make  Him  a  liar.  Why  should  we  ex- 
pect to  be  hungry  when  He  says  :  "  He  that  cometh  to 
Me  shall  never  hunger  "  ?  Why  should  we  expect  to 
thirst  when  He  says  :  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me  shall 
never  thirst  "  ?  Those  of  you  who  are  familiar  with  the 
original  know  very  w^ell  that  the  word  used  there — 
TtGDTtore — is  the  same  as  is  used  in  another  passage  : 
"  Np  man  hath  seen  the  Father  at  any  time,"    So  that 


28  coLLiu;!':  sruDiiNTS  AT  N()k'nii'ii;Li). 

the  nitaiiiiijj^  of  tlic  passa^i;  is  :  "  lie  thai  coinctli  to  Mc 
shall  not  Imn^cr  at  any  time  ;  and  he  that  believetli  on 
Me  sliall  not  tliiist  at  any  sini^h-  time."  I  suppose  he 
will  always  hav(^  an  appetite  ;  hut  Ik;  will  never  be  fam- 
ished and  thirsty  and  unable  to  jj^et  refreshment.  Shall 
we  not  take  this  promise  and  test  it  ?  Oh,  if  we  do  so, 
we  shall  liiid  it  such  a  source  of  blessinjj^  !  If  we  do 
not,  how  much  sorrow  we  may  biing  upon  ourselves — 
how  much  dishonor  we  may  brin^  upon  our  Lord  ! 
( )h,  our  Mastei-  wants  us  to  be  stronjj^ !  1  le  wants  to  Jj^ive 
us  more  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  you  are  brought 
into  the  presence  of  some  poor  soul  who  is  in  sorrow 
and  tiial,  aiul  you  don't;  know  what  to  say  to  comfort 
that  soul,  just  look  up  and  say,  "  [•\ith(;r,  let  the  livinpc 
water  flow  accordinj^  to  Thy  Word,"  and  see  if  lie 
doesn't  answer  that  prayer.  When  you  are  brought 
into  some  circumstance  of  perplexity,  and  there  is  a 
question,  perhaps,  brouji^ht  to  you,  and  you  don't  know 
how  to  answer  it,  and  it  must  be  dealt  with,  just  look 
up  to  Ilim,  and  ask  Ilim  who  is  All-Wisdom  to  be  your 
wisdom,  and  to  guide  you  in  this  matter.  You  will  find 
you  will  TU'ver  lack  resources  when  you  are  resting  in 
the  living  God.  God  doesn't  leave  His  people  without 
sufllcient  resources  for  every  circumstance.  He  will  be 
with  you  in  any  field  into  which  lie  may  lead  you  to 
labor  in  His  name. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"in  the  beginning." 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Alexander  McKenzie,  of  Cambridge — Various 
Departments  of  Bible  Study — Inter-Relation  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments — Genesis  Examined  in  the  Light  of  the  Gospel  of 
John — Christ  the  Creator— Nature  in  a  New  Aspect— Jesus  of 
Nazareth  Lord  of  All. 

The  Bible  is  studied  in  various  ways.  There  are  some 
who  study  it  to  find  out  the  exact  words,  and  the  exact 
meaning  of  every  word.  A  great  many  scholars  have  de- 
voted their  lives  to  this  line  of  research,  and  the  results 
of  their  studies  are  extremely  interesting.  One  of 
the  most  profitable  books  that  we  can  study  is  a 
large  dictionary.  It  is  always  entertaining  reading. 
Take,  for  example,  that  admirable  lexicon  of  New 
Testament  Greek  issued  lately  under  the  supervision 
of  Professor  Thayer,  wherein  he  not  only  tells  you 
what  a  word  means,  but  traces  it  along  through  dif- 
ferent passages  and  different  writers  that  you  may  get 
a  more  complete  conception  of  it.  And  then  others 
are  studying  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  all  that  is  written,  and  throwing  upon  the 
text  all  the  light  that  they  can  gather  from  the  rec- 
ords of  the  ages.  Others  again  are  studying  it  in  con- 
nection with  the  antiquities  involved.  Thus  we  find  in 
the  monuments  of  Nineveh  a  confirmation  of  the  sa- 
cred narrative  concerning  that  city.     And  the  excava- 

(29) 


30  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

tions  which  are  now  in  progress  in  Egypt  have  revealed 
one  of  the  treasure  cities  built  by  the  Israelites  under 
the  command  of  Pharaoh.  In  the  remains  of  Pithom 
houses  have  been  found  built  for  the  purposes  of  a  store- 
city,  of  which  the  walls  are  of  brick  made  partly  with 
straw  and  partly  without  straw — a  trifling  circumstance, 
and  yet  a  most  interesting  confirmation  of  Holy  Writ. 

These  classes  of  investigators  are  all  studying  the  Bi- 
ble with  different  purposes,  and  their  work  becomes  con- 
tributory to  ours.  Let  us  take  it,  and  make  the  best  of 
it.  We  are  not  able — you  and  I — to  pursue  such  work  for 
ourselves.  It  is  impossible  in  our  time  for  men  to  be 
great  scholars  and  great  anything  else.  In  old  times  a 
minister  knew  everything  that  was  worth  knowing,  but 
the  world  has  been  advancing.  We  have  specialists  now 
in  everything  ;  and  we  have  specialists  in  sacred  litera- 
ture, sacred  history,  and  sacred  archaeology.  We  ought 
to  take  whatever  they  are  able  to  give,  and  believe  that, 
so  far  as  it  is  true,  it  is  confirmatory  of  the  written  Word. 
I  stand  with  you  on  your  own  plane,  as  a  man  who  hap- 
pens to  be  a  minister,  to  be  sure,  but  who  has  read  the 
Bible  as  you  may  have  read  it.  The  work  that  we  have 
to  do  is  mainly  two-fold  :  first,  to  read  it  for  our  own  in- 
struction and  edification,  and  then  to  impart  whatever 
we  have  learned  to  others.  My  own  work  has  been  of 
this  character.  It  has  been  the  work  of  a  minister  in  a 
large  parish  where  I  have  had  continually  to  read  the 
Bible  in  this  practical  way,  for  my  own  good,  and  for 
the  use  which  I  was  able  to  make  of  it  in  the  pulpit. 

Now,  I  think  you  Vv^ill  find  that  there  is  no  reason  for 
separating  the  Bible  one  part  from  another.  Certainly 
there  is  no  reason  for  dividing  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New.  One  of  the  greatest  pieces  of  injury  ever 
done  to  the   Church  was   the   dividing  of    the    Bible. 


"IN  THE  BEGINNING."  3 1 

"Alexander  the  coppersmith,"  Paul  says,  "did  me  much 
evil."  But  he  hasn't  done  half  as  much  harm  as  Alexan- 
der the  bookbinder  ;  and  when  he  adds  the  impertinence 
of  inserting  a  family  register  between  Malachi  and  Mat- 
thew, the  injury  is  aggravated.  When  the  last  Hebrew 
writer  closes  his  record,  and  lays  aside  his  pen,  he  is 
talking  about  John  the  Baptist  who  is  to  come  ;  and  the 
Gospel  begins  with  John  the  Baptist  coming.  One  of 
the  best  ways  to  read  the  Bible  is  to  treat  it  as  you 
would  another  book  :  to  read  it,  or  a  part  of  it,  straight 
through.  You  can't  divide  it  any  more  than  you  can  a 
letter  from  a  friend.  I  remember  once  when  travelling 
in  Europe  I  happened  to  be  in  a  vessel  that  was  quaran- 
tined off  the  coast  of  Italy,  at  Brindisi.  To  while  away 
the  time  I  took  the  book  of  Hebrews  and  read  it  through 
as  if  it  were  the  latest  publication  from  the  press.  Dis- 
regarding the  division  into  chapters  and  verses,  I  read 
it  from  beginning  to  end.  By  allowing  nothing  to  break 
the  continuity  of  the  argument  I  gained  an  understand- 
ing of  the  Epistle  such  as  I  had  never  had  before. 

There  is  another  thing — and  it  is  this  to  which  I  wish 
to  direct  your  special  attention.  We  have  a  right  to 
read  into  any  record  everything  we  know  from  other 
sources.  When  we  undertake,  for  instance,  to  read  the 
biography  of  a  man  with  whose  life  we  are  familiar,  we 
have  a  right  to  take  the  impression  and  the  spirit  which 
we  have  with  regard  to  that  man,  and  read  these  into  the 
biography,  making  them  in  some  way  interpret  the  bi- 
ography to  us.  Suppose  you  take  the  life  of  General 
Grant.  When  you  are  reading  about  his  boyhood,  you 
can't  help  remembering  that  he  became  a  great  soldier 
and  the  President  of  a  great  nation.  With  this  impres- 
sion which  you  have,  and  which  you  have  a  right  to 
have,  you  begin  to  read,  and  what  you  read  is  illustrated 


32  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

by  what  you  already  know.  When  we  do  this  with  the 
Bible  it  doesn't  become  an  old  book  to  us.  We  don't 
discard  the  Old  Testament  as  a  book  w^e  have  outgrown, 
but  we  fill  into  it  what  we  have  learned  elsewhere. 

I  want  to  ask  you  to  notice  that  there  is  no  contrariety 
or  opposition  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 
You  will  hear  people  saying  sometimes  :  "  We  must  put 
away  the  Old  Testament  because  it  doesn't  agree  with 
the  New."  They  tell  us  it  was  formed  under  a  different 
system  of  living  and  different  circumstances — that  it  did 
very  well  for  its  time,  but  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it  now,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Now,  the  one  thought 
I  would  like  to  leave  in  your  mind  is  this  :  That  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testament  are  the  same. 
I  don't  wish  to  be  extravagant — you  will  find  it  is  al- 
ways wise  to  limit  your  propositions,  and  there  is  a 
tendency  in  religious  themes  to  make  extravagant  state- 
ments— I  don't  make  an  extravagant  statement  when  I 
say  that  there  is  not  a  single  truth  in  the  Old  Testament 
that  is  not  found  afterward  in  the  New,  and  that  there 
is  not  a  single  principle  in  the  New  Testament  that  is 
not  in  the  Old,  in  the  germ  of  it — the  suggestion  or  im- 
plication or  hint  of  it.  The  New  Testament  is  rather 
the  unfolding  of  the  truths  of  the  Old,  while  the  Old 
Testament  is  in  some  respects  a  larger  setting  forth  of 
the  truths  in  the  New.  ■  You  can't  part  with  one  any 
more  than  with  the  other.  A  man  can  find  the  way  to 
life,  as  Timothy  did,  out  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  he 
can  find  it  out  of  the  New.  I  pray  you,  remember  this. 
Let  me  repeat  it,  that  the  truths  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  are  the  same  truths  ;  they  are  not  only  con- 
sistent truths,  but  they  are  identical.  In  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  we  are  told  that  God  spoke  through  the 
prophets,  and  then  spoke  by  His  Son ;  and  God  is  not 


'*IN  THE   BEGINNING.  33 

inconsistent  with  Himself.  "  I  am  the  Lord,  I  change 
not."  Hence  you  don't  expect  to  find  one  truth  uttered  in 
Genesis,  and  something  very  different  uttered  in  Romans 
or  the  Gospels.  You  may  find  a  truth  more  fully  stated, 
and  carried  out  in  greater  detail.  You  may  even  find 
what  appears  to  be  opposition  ;  but  when  you  look  into 
the  heart  of  things,  and  get  down  from  the  letter  into 
the  spirit,  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  exactly  the 
statements  are  the  same.  Nothing  has  surprised  me  more 
in  the  last  two  or  three  years  than  to  find  how  full  the 
Old  Testament  is  of  simple  Gospel  truth.  Dr.  Guthrie 
said  you  could  find  the  Gospel  in  Ezekiel.  He  might 
have  said  you  could  find  it  in  Genesis,  in  the  Chronicles, 
anywhere.  The  Gospel  is  God's  love  to*  man.  Take 
the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  and  you  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  how  marvellously  they  fit  one  intO"  the 
other.  Take  the  ancient  record,  begin  at  the  beginning, 
and  put  down  a  list  of  the  principles  contained  in  it,  as 
if  you  were  making  a  list  of  the  contents  of  the  book, 
and  then  notice  this  :  that  every  line  you  write  refers 
to  something  in  the  New  Testament — the  leading  prin- 
ciples in  the  Old  Testament  are  a  table  of  contents  for 
the  New  Testament.  I  don't  believe  you  can  write 
down  a  single  principle  in  this  chapter  of  which  I  am 
to  speak  to-day  [the  first  of  Genesis],  which  you  don't 
find  carried  out,  illustrated,  and  enforced  in  the  New 
Testament.  I  want  to  be  cautious  In  what  I  say,  and 
yet  if  you  were  to  make  out  a  list  of  the  leading  doc- 
trines of  the  New  Testament,  and  number  them  i,  2,  3, 
and  so  on,  I  don't  believe  you  could  put  a  single  prin- 
ciple into  that  list  which  is  not  quite  distinctly  taught 
or  quite  distinctly  suggested  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Here  is  an  experiment  to  try,  and  I  wish  some  time  you 
would  try  it.     Take  the  book  of  Genesis,  for  example. 


34  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

and  write  down  what  you  find  in  it — the  first  thing, 
the  second  thing,  the  third  thing,  and  so  on — and 
see  if  every  one  of  those  things  does  not  point  you 
to  something  further  in  the  New  Testament.  I'll  tell 
you  what  the  result  will  be.  You  will  find  that  it  is 
so,  and  you  will  feel  the  power  of  the  truth  more 
than  ever  as  it  thus  comes  home  with  added  strength 
to  your  heart. 

Now,  let  us  begin  to  read  the  Bible  in  this  way — and, 
of  course,  we  will  not  be  able  to  go  very  far.  What  is 
the  first  thing  said  in  the  Bible  ?  "  In  the  beginning." 
We  are  carried  back  to  a  period  of  time  beyond  which 
there  is  nothing.  You  undertake  to  study  American 
history,  and  before  you  go  very  far  back  you  come  to 
the  history  of  England.  You  study  English  history, 
and  you  come  to  the  Northmen.  Study  the  history  of 
the  Northmen,  and  you  are  carried  still  farther  back  to 
somewhere  in  the  heart  of  Asia.  But  in  this  record  the 
first  statement  goes  as  far  back  as  it  is  possible  for  hu- 
man thought  to  reach,  and  infinitely  beyond  that. 

What  is  the  second  thing  ?  "  In  the  beginning  God." 
"  God."  Who  is  that  ?  A  great  name  ?  Tell  a  native 
of  the  Fiji  Islands  that  in  the  beginning  was  God,  and 
he  says:  "Well,  who  is  He?  What  does  it  mean?" 
Some  men  would  say  :  "  He  is  one  of  the  great  element- 
ary forces  of  the  universe."  But  have  you  ever  heard 
anything  about  God  ? — heard  anything  anywhere  ?  If 
you  have,  then  let  that  interpret  the  word  to  you.  Sup- 
pose you  take  that  simple  answer  of  the  Westminster 
Catechism,  and  read  the  statement  thus:  "  In  the  begin- 
ning was  God,  a  Spirit  infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable, 
in  His  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness, 
and  truth."  And  that  is  all  there  is  existing.  There 
is  nothing  else.     There  is  no  one  but  that.     "  In  the  be- 


''IN   THE   BEGINNING.  35 

ginning  God."  What  more  do  3"ou  know  about  Him  ? 
You  know  that  that  God  is  your  Father  ;  that  He  loves 
you,  and  takes  care  of  you  ;  that  in  the  fullest  sense 
He  is  your  Father.  "  In  the  beginning  is  my  Father." 
"  Before  there  is  anybody  else  in  the  universe  there  is 
my  Father."  Or  if  you  say,  "a  father"  needs  its  cor- 
relative term  "  a  child,"  and  there  is  no  child — very 
well  ;  in  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  God  there  is  no 
distinction  of  time.  For  God  to  determine  a  thing  is 
equal  to  doing  the  thing.  Man  is  always  in  His 
thoughts,  and  the  Fatherhood  is  always  in  His  being. 
What  do  you  know  about  Him  further  ?  "  God  is  love  " 
— perhaps  the  highest  assertion  ever  made  in  words. 
"  In  the  beginning,  before  there  was  anything  else,  love 
was  there."  Well  ;  do  you  know  anything  more  about 
God  ?  I  shall  not  follow  the  inquiry  any  farther  ;  but 
you  see  how  beautifully  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
comes  in  there.  You  think  of  this  solitary  being  in  the 
beginning — the  infinite  eternal  beginning.  His  nature 
is  love.  You  like  to  think  that  held  within  it  is  that 
Divine,  eternal,  unknown  relationship  :  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  tell  us  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  has  no  practical  value.  It  seems 
to  me  when  I  sit  down  with  my  two  children,  there  is 
some  practical  value  in  the  fact  that  we  live  together. 
It  is  of  some  practical  value  to  me  that  I  love  my  boy, 
and  that  my  boy  loves  me.  I  like  to  feel  that  in  that 
eternal  God,  who  is  all  alone,  there  is  love  ;  and  there 
is  a  distinction  of  entity,  of  essence,  of  life,  which  makes 
the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  don't 
know  anything  more  about  it  than  that.  The  Trinity 
is  taught  distinctly  in  the  New  Testament.  It  seems  to 
me  that  it  is  a  natural  demand  of  the  heart,  and  to  me 
it  is  one  of  the  most  precious  truths.     I  like  to  think  of 


36  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

a  God  who  is  love,  loving ;  and  that  means  something 
that  can  love  and  can  be  loved. 

What  is  the  next  thing  in  the  Bible  ?  The  next  thing 
is  creation.  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heav- 
en and  the  earth."  Again  you  come  upon  a  great 
thought.  We  are  not  told  that  He  fashioned  those 
things,  or  discovered  those  things  ;  He  created  them. 
There  was  nothing  but  God,  and  there  came  to  be  a 
sun,  and  a  tree,  and  a  bird,  and  a  man.  God  created 
you  out  of  nothing  by  the  very  force  of  His  own  being 
— by  that  which  He  had  in  His  nature.  By  virtue  of 
that  which  was  in  God,  and  part  of  Him,  God  created 
the  heaven  and  the  earth. 

Here  we  have,  then,  the  three  primal  assertions  of  the 
Bible.  And  they  are  three  mysteries.  You  cannot  solve 
them.  They  are  great,  which  is  one  evidence  that  they 
are  true.  I  don't  think  Mr.  Moody  ever  said  a  truer 
thing  than  when  he  said  that  if  he  understood  the  Bible 
it  would  not  be  true.  A  Bible  that  he  can  comprehend, 
or  anybody  else  can  comprehend,  is  not  very  much  of  a 
Bible.  Infinite  things  cannot  be  grasped  by  the  human 
mind.  The  Bible  opens  with  three  great  mysteries  :  the 
mystery  of  time,  the  mystery  of  being,  and  the  mystery 
of  creation.  We  can't  understand  them.  They  are  past 
our  finding  out. 

Now,  having  begun  with  the  earliest  part  of  the  Old 
Testament,  suppose  we  begin  with  the  earliest  part  of 
the  New  Testament.  What  part  of  the  New  Testament 
carries  us  farthest  back  into  these  things  ?  Well  ;  of 
course  it  is  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  This  is  the  last 
book  which  St.  John  wrote.  He  wrote  it,  as  you  know, 
after  he  had  written  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  mark  that  it  goes  most  deeply  into  the  nature 
and  character  of  God — into  His  purposes,  and  into  His 


*'IN  THE  BEGINNING."  37 

works.  It  has  been  called  "the  heart  of  Christ,"  as 
being  more  than  anything  else  a  revelation  of  the  very 
heart  of  Christ  Himself.  Taking  this  Gospel,  which  is 
the  very  earliest  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  earliest  facts, 
and  which  is  the  most  profound  and  the  most  sublime  in 
its  range,  what  do  we  notice  ?  At  once  we  observe  that 
the  first  words  are  precisely  the  same  words  as  we  had 
in  Genesis:  "In  the  beginning."  We  start  from  the 
same  point.  In  Genesis  and  "the  heart  of  Christ"  the 
very  first  assertion  is  the  same  assertion.  What  next  ? 
"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  Dropping  the  in- 
termediate words,  what  do  you  have  ?  "  In  the  begin- 
ning God."  There  is  Genesis  again.  You  have  got  two 
thoughts,  then,  that  are  alike  in  John  and  Genesis. 
What  is  the  third  thought  in  Genesis  ?  Creating.  What 
is  the  third  thought  in  John?  "All  things  were  made 
by  Him  ;  and  without  Him  was  not  anything  made  that 
was  made."  Creation.  The  first  three  thoughts  in  Gen- 
esis— three  great  mysteries — are  the  first  three  thoughts 
in  the  New  Testament.  Is  it  not  significant  that  when 
we  go  into  the  very  "  heart  of  Christ,"  we  are  introduced 
to  the  very  same  three  thoughts  to  which  we  were  intro- 
duced in  the  opening  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  ? 
And  yet  men  say  that  we  don't  need  the  Old  Testament. 
You  will  find  that  Genesis  enlarges  upon  the  fact  of 
creation,  and  describes  it  in  order — first,  secondly,  third- 
ly, and  so  on.  John  doesn't  say  anything  about  it.  He 
leaves  the  matter.  You  will  find  that  Genesis  leaves 
God  just  where  He  is  in  the  first  verse,  and  doesn't  add 
anything  more  about  Him.  John  takes  up  the  thought 
of  God  and  carries  it  farther.  Genesis  expands  creation, 
and  the  Gospel  expands  the  Creator  ;  and  so  they  are 
helpful   one  to  the   other.     While  they  start  with  the 


38  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

same  three  truths,  they  are  not  repetitious.     As  touching 
the  Creator,  in  John's  Gospel  you  will  find  this  :    "And 
the  Word  " — He  who  created  was  the  Word — "  was  made 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  (and  we  beheld  His  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,)  full  of 
grace  and  truth."     John  teaches  us  that  the  Creator  of 
the  world  was  He  whom  we  know  as  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     I  pause  upon  that  for  a  moment.    I  wish  it  might 
sink  into  our  minds.     It  is  one  of  the  strangest  things 
in  the  whole  history  of  Christian  thought  that  it  never 
has  been  made  very  prominent.     It  is  mentioned  in  no 
prominent  creed.     In  the  so-called  Apostles'  Creed — not 
made  by  the  Apostles,  of  course,  but  coming  to  us  from 
the  earliest  times— we  read  :  "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth."     I  should  like 
to  know  upon  what  Scripture  they  base  that.     It  would 
be  more  correct  to  say  :  "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  His  Son,  maker  of  heaven 
and  earth."     John  doesn't  tell  us  that  God  the  Father 
made  all  things,  but  he  says  that  He  whom  we  know  as 
Christ  made  all  things.     You  can  draw  your  own  infer- 
ence.     We  are  not   shut  up  to   that   single   assertion. 
Reading  a  little  farther,  what  do  we  find  Jesus  Himself 
saying?      Let   us    remember   that   when  we   call    Him 
"Jesus,"  that  is  His  late  name.     We  call  Him  "  Christ," 
but  that  simply  describes  His  work  in  redemption.     In 
a  certain  sense  there  is  a  little  anachronism  when  we 
speak  of  Christ  as  creating  heaven  and  earth  ;  and  yet 
there  is  no  help  for  it  but  to  keep  to  that  usage.     What 
do  we  find  the  Saviour  saying  ?     He  prays  to  His  Father, 
with  eleven  men  overhearing  Him,  and  He  speaks  of 
"  the  glory  which  I  had  with  Thee  before  the  world  was." 
In  other  words  :  "There  was  nothing,  and  I  was  in  the 
glory  with  God,  and  there  was  nobody  but  God."     Turn- 


"  IN   THE   BEGINNING/*  39 

ing  to  a  later  part  of  the  New  Testament,  what  do  we 
find  ?  "  By  whom  were  all  things  created,  that  are  in 
heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible  :  .  .  .  . 
all  things  were  created  by  Him  and  for  Him  :  And  He  is 
before  all  things,  and  by  Him  all  things  consist  " — that  is, 
hold  together,  stand  together.  Again,  we  find  that  this 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  in  that  endless  to-morrow,  and 
in  that  unbegotten  yesterday,  and  here  in  our  to-day.  We 
find  this  expression  from  His  own  lips  :  "  I  am  Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last." 
It  is  wonderful  in  all  of  Christ's  teaching  how  He  iden- 
tifies everything  with  Himself.  Thus  He  doesn't  say  : 
"  I  teach  the  truth  ";  but,  "  I  am  the  truth."  He  doesn't 
say  :  "I  give  life  ";  but,  "  I  am  the  life."  For  our  pres- 
ent purpose  there  is  perhaps  no  saying  more  significant 
than  this  :  "  I  am  the  beginning."  It  is  not  :  "  I  was 
in  the  beginning  ";  but,  "  I  am  the  beginning.  There  is 
no  beginning  but  Myself.  I  am  the  first ;  I  am  the  last. 
I  am  the  beginning." 

Now,  take  these  truths  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
throw  them  back  into  the  Old  Testament,  and  where 
are  you  ?  That  first  verse  of  Genesis  contains  the  act 
of  Him  who  came  incarnate  into  the  world  on  that 
Christmas-day  when  the  angels  made  the  air  melodious 
with  their  carols.  You  find  the  same  One  who  walked 
the  streets  of  Galilee,  who  healed  the  sick  and  raised 
the  dead — you  find  the  same  One  who  redeemed  the 
world  and  ascended  into  His  glory  ;  and  is  not  this 
something  with  which  we  are  able  to  illuminate  the 
record  ?  What  is  the  practical  value  of  this  ?  Well  ; 
the  practical  value  of  this  for  any  intelligent  man  is 
that  it  is  intelligence — it  is  knowledge.  You  want  to 
know  what  is  true.  Modern  science  in  a  very  large  de- 
gree is  unscientific,  because  it  says,  "  I  don't  want  to 


40  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

know."  Science  is  knowledge.  A  truly  scientific  man 
always  wants  to  know.  He  keeps  asking  questions. 
And  the  question,  "  Who  made  the  heaven  and  the 
earth  ?  "  is  more  important  than,  "  What  is  the  history 
of  the  heaven  and  the  earth  ?"  Again,  it  exalts  Christ 
in  our  thoughts,  and  makes  Him  seem  nearer  to  our 
minds.  Again,  it  brings  Nature  nearer  to  us.  It  has 
not  been  created  by  certain  primal  forces.  It  has  been 
created  by  One  whom  we  know.  That  makes  Nature 
dearer  to  us,  because  it  is  the  work  of  One  whom  we 
love.  It  is  unchanging  because  the  unchanging  Christ 
breathed  into  it.  Every  flower  that  blooms  is  in  har- 
mony with  every  thought  that  redeems,  and  every  star 
that  shines  has  some  vital  connection  with  every  word 
of  truth  that  illumines.  The  whole  world  becomes  better 
and  dearer  to  us  because  Christ  made  it.  I  love  the 
Bible  my  father  used  to  read.  I  hold  sacred  the  letters 
of  my  father  and  my  mother.  And  I  love  this  beautiful 
world  because  there  is  not  a  blade  of  grass,  there  is  not 
a  flower  springing  among  the  grass,  there  is  not  a  bird 
singing  in  the  trees,  there  is  not  a  star  looking  down 
from  heaven,  which  was  not  made  by  the  best  friend  I 
ever  had — who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me,  and 
hallowed  earth  by  treading  its  acres  with  the  feet  that 
for  its  advantage  were  to  be  nailed  upon  the  Cross. 

Let  me  follow  along  a  little  farther.  What  is  the 
next  thought  of  Genesis  ?  It  is  the  thought  of  creation 
day  by  day.  "  God  said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there 
was  light."  The  light  was  separated  from  the  darkness, 
and  night  from  day.  Then  God  created  the  firmament, 
separating  the  waters  under  from  the  waters  above. 
Then  came  the  grass,  and  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and 
the  stars,  and  fish  for  the  waters,  and  birds  and  beasts 
for  the  earth.     These  are  the  successive  works  of  Him 


''IN  THE  BEGINNING.  4I 

ivhom  we  know  as  Christ.  We  started  with  the  begin- 
ning, when  there  was  only  God — only  Christ.  All  that 
there  was,  was  in  Him.  But  He  imparted  His  life  to 
various  orders  of  creatures.  He  became  the  life  of  all 
that  is — as  He  said  :  "  I  am  the  life."  What  I  want  to 
get  clearly  into  our  minds  is  this  :  that  He  who  made 
heaven  and  earth  is  the  same  God  who  gave  His  life 
upon  the  Cross  for  us,  and  the  same  God  who  speaks  in 
the  Gospels  for  our  instruction  ;  and  that  by  looking 
at  Him  through  His  w^orks  we  may  perhaps  get  a  bet- 
ter conception  of  Him.  It  is  not  only  true  that  men 
are  to  be  judged  by  their  actions,  but  equally  true  that 
actions  are  to  be  judged  by  their  men.  You  judge  an 
action  by  the  man  who  does  it.  The  value  of  a  note  of 
hand  depends  on  the  man  who  has  issued  it.  I  heard 
of  a  man  the  other  day  who  gave  a  million  to  found  an 
hospital,  but  in  the  next  sentence  it  was  said  that  he 
was  in  an  insane  asylum.  What  does  the  world  mean  ? 
That  depends  on  who  made  it.  They  tell  you  the  world 
is  evil — that  it  is  the  devil's  world — that  matter  is  evil 
— that  force  is  evil.  It  isn't  the  devil's  world  ;  it  is 
Christ's  world.  Christ's  thought  is  imbedded  in  its 
rocky  foundations,  and  glitters  in  its  spangled  heavens. 
All  life  is  from  Him.  You  look  among  the  trees,  and 
you  hear  a  bird  ;  you  go  out  into  the  jungle,  and  you 
see  a  lion.  Where  did  that  life  come  from  ?  The  life  of 
a  bird  can  only  be  the  life  of  Christ  iuiparted  to  the  bird 
— so  much  of  it  as  has  been  shut  up  in  the  form  of  being 
which  we  call  a  bird.  There  is  no  other  life  but  that. 
His  life  is  imparted  to  everything  that  lives — the  bird 
of  the  air,  and  the  tree  in  whose  branches  it  builds  its 
nest — one  life  in  all  things.  Perhaps  some  one  says  : 
"  That  is  pantheism."  It  is  as  far  from  pantheism  as 
heaven  is  from   the  earth.     It  hasn't  the  slightest  con- 


42  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

nection  with  pantheism.  Pantheism  teaches  that  the 
world  is  God — that  there  is  no  God  but  stones  and  birds 
and  beasts.  Pantheism  makes  Nature  to  be  God.  This 
makes  Nature  to  be  the  creation  of  God.  According  to 
Pantheism,  if  all  things  were  destroyed  God  would  be 
destroyed.  But  according  to  this  teaching,  if  all  things 
were  destroyed,  God  would  remain,  as  He  was  in  the 
beginning.  He  was  God  when  there  was  nothing  be- 
side ;  He  would  be  God  if  everything  besides  perished. 
He  gives  of  His  life  to  everything  that  is.  Nature  be- 
comes more  full  of  meaning  when  we  look  upon  life  as 
being  the  life  of  Christ  which  is  communicated  to  every 
being,  and  is  sustained  in  them  by  Him.  It  remains 
His  life,  though  it  is  in  them.  Take  the  beautiful  crea- 
ture which  we  call  the  humming-bird,  whose  destiny,  it 
would  seem,  is  merely  to  grace  a  bonnet.  You  part 
the  beautiful  feathers  on  its  breast,  and  with  your 
sharp  knife  you  cut  the  tender  flesh,  and  lay  bare  the 
little  framework  within.  You  part  those  delicate  ribs, 
which  you  can  scarcely  see,  they  are  so  fine.  If  your 
surgery  has  been  skilful,  the  life  remains.  Still  that 
tiny  heart  is  beating — beating — beating.  The  life  of 
Jehovah  in  the  heart  of  a  humming-bird  ! 

Again,  take  light.  Jesus  says  :  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world."  It  was  fitting,  then,  that  in  the  morning 
of  creation  He  should  say  :  "  Let  there  be  light."  It  is 
because  He  is  the  light  that  when  He  says,  *'  Let  there 
be  light,"  there  is  light  blazing  from  all  the  belfries  of 
the  heavens.  It  is  because  He  is  light  that  He  is  able 
to  create  and  to  sustain  these  things  And  how  great 
this  light  is  !  Why,  the  ray  of  light  that  is  streaming 
down  over  this  landscape  has  come  ninety-five  millions 
of  miles.  It  has  come  twelve  millions  of  miles  a  minute, 
to   pass  through   this  window  and  fall  upon  your  face. 


*'IN   THE   BEGINNING."  43 

You  catch  it  upon  your  glass,  and  shatter  it  into  its 
separate  splendors,  and  it  holds  its  connection  still  with 
the  sun  from  which  it  has  come,  and  the  Christ  which 
has  given  it  its  power  to  shine.  There  are  eighteen 
million  stars  in  our  firmament,  and  there  are  four  thou- 
sand such  firmaments,  and  more.  The  North  Star — 
which  is  the  most  useful  of  all,  and  by  which  we  sail 
our  ships  upon  the  sea — is  three  million  times  more 
distant  than  the  sun,  and  its  light  takes  forty-eight 
years  to  come  to  this  earth.  There  was  a  boy  born  a 
hundred  years  ago  in  the  swamps  of  the  South — a  slave 
child.  He  grew  up  into  his  boyhood,  passed  on  into 
his  manhood,  and  bore  the  hardship  and  cruelty  of  his 
lot  till  he  was  forty-eight  years  old.  Then  he  left  his 
home,  throwing  himself  into  the  swamp,  that  he  might 
perhaps  seek  refuge  and  liberty  somewhere  in  the  wide 
country  that  was  beyond  him.  When  night  came,  he 
lifted  up  his  eyes  for  guidance,  and  that  moment  there 
fell  upon  that  fugitive  a  ray  of  light  that  started  from 
the  North  Star  the  moment  that  boy  was  born.  It  had 
been  travelling  on  its  course  all  through  his  boyhood 
and  young  manhood  ;  and  the  foreordination  of  God 
and  the  eternal  counsel  of  Christ  brought  the  two  to- 
gether when  that  fugitive  needed  the  guidance.  In  1841 
William  Henry  Harrison  became  President  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  day  of  his  inauguration  a  ray  of  light 
started  from  the  North  Star.  If  the  hopes  and  purposes 
of  many  are  fulfilled,  his  grandson  will  be  inaugurated 
next  year.  Suppose  that  should  occur,  and  Benjamin 
Harrison  should  be  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March 
next.  If  at  the  close  of  the  day,  weary  with  its  ex- 
ercises, he  should  walk  out  in  the  garden  of  the 
White  House,  and  look  up  at  its  marble  walls,  his 
eye  would   meet  for  the  first  time  a  ray  of  light  that 


44  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

started  from  the  North  Star  the  day  his  grandfather 
was  inaugurated  President.  Who  appointed  all  these 
things  ?  Who  made  the  North  Star  ?  Why,  brethren  ; 
that  was  your  Saviour.  That  was  the  One  who  died 
upon  the  Cross  for  you.  That  was  the  One  who 
spake  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  ''  Heaven  and  earth 
shall  pass  away,  but  My  words  shall  not  pass  away." 
Of  course  not.  The  words  of  Christ  were  older.  They 
were  before  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  It  was  He  who 
said,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  and  there  was  light.  In  Him 
all  things  have  their  being.  You  might  expect  to  find 
some  manifestation  of  this  when  He  comes  into  the 
world  ;  and  indeed  you  do  find  it.  As  you  read  the 
Gospels  you  have  a  revelation  of  the  true  humanity — 
the  true  and  perfect  manhood  of  Christ ;  but  more  dis- 
tinct than  that,  you  have  a  revelation  of  His  divinity. 
You  find  instances  in  which  His  divinity  is  presented  as 
the  dominant  thought.  Thus,  He  is  born  into  the 
world  on  Christmas-day  a  child  ;  but  the  star  guides 
the  wise  men  who  lay  their  gifts  at  His  cradle,  and  the 
angels  of  Heaven  chant  jubilant  strains  at  His  birth. 
He  goes  to  Cana  of  Galilee,  a  guest ;  but  not  content 
with  that.  He  exercises  His  Divine  power,  and  makes 
the  water  redden  into  wine.  On  the  Sea  of  Galilee  He 
lays  His  head  on  the  fisherman's  rude  leather  cushion, 
and  falls  asleep  as  a  man  ;  but  He  awakes  to  still  the 
winds  and  the  waves.  At  the  v/ell  of  Samaria  He  sits 
weary  and  athirst  that  sultry  Syrian  noon.  Surely  He 
is  a  man.  But  there  He  declares  Himself  the  Messiah. 
He  goes  to  the  Cross,  His  hands  and  feet  are  nailed 
to  the  wood,  and  He  dies  as  a  man.  But  in  His  dying 
moments  He  takes  the  immortal  soul  of  a  dying  peni- 
tent upon  His  breast,  and  with  His  pierced  hands  He 
opens  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to  a  malefactor.     They 


"in  the  beginning."  45 

put  Him  in  a  tomb  as  a  man,  and  the  tomb  is  sealed 
and  watched.  But  at  the  appointed  time,  by  His  Di- 
vine authority,  the  stone  rolls  back,  and  He  walks  again 
among  men.  Like  a  man  He  goes  up  the  heights  of 
Olivet,  and  stretches  His  hands  in  blessing  over  His 
disciples.  Then  He  rises  ;  and  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
which  He  created,  receive  Him  out  of  their  sight — to 
come  again,  as  He  had  foretold,  with  all  His  holy  angels, 
and  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  His  glory,  and  have  all  na- 
tions gathered  before  Him.  And  His  work  beyond  this 
is  to  be  continued.  We  find  in  the  Old  Testament  what 
is  more  distinctly  brought  out  in  the  New  :  "  I  create 
new  heavens,  and  a  new  earth."  "  Behold,"  says  Christ 
in  the  Apocalypse  ;  "  I  make  all  things  new."  We  are 
not  surprised  that  He  should  make  all  things  new  who 
gave  being  to  all  things  that  are  old. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia — 
The  Decalogue  as  a  Covenant  of  Love — Not  a  Series  of  Arbitra- 
ry Edicts — Light  from  Oriental  Customs — Jehovah  Condescends  to 
Form  a  Compact — The  Commandments  Severally  Examined — 
Their  True  Meaning. 

All  of  us  are  familiar  with  the  Ten  Commandments, 
given  from  God  on  two  tables,  or  tablets,  of  stone  to  the 
people  of  Israel  at  Mount  Sinai.  But  not  all  of  us  are 
accustomed  to  think  of  these  Ten  Commandments  as 
ten  separate  clauses  of  a  loving  covenant  between  God 
and  His  chosen  people,  recorded  on  stone  tablets  for 
their  permanent  preservation.  Yet  these  witnessing  tab- 
lets are  repeatedly  called  in  the  Bible  "  the  tables  of  the 
covenant,"  and  "tables  of  testimony,"  not  the  tables  of 
the  commandments  ;  while  the  casket  which  contained 
them  is  called  "  the  ark  of  the  covenant,"  not  the  ark  of 
the  commandments. 

There  is  obviously  a  world-wide  difference  between  a 
loving  covenant  that  binds  two  parties  to  each  other  in 
mutual  affection  and  fidelity,  and  a  series  of  arbitrary 
commandments  enjoined  by  a  sovereign  upon  his  sub- 
jects ;  between  a  compact  of  union,  having  its  statement 
of  promises  on  the  one  hand  and  of  responsibilities  on 
the  other,  and  an  instrument  that  asserts  the  rights  of 
the  ruler  and  defines  the  duties  of  the  ruled. 
(46) 


THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS.  47 

In  our  estimate  of  the  Decalogue  we  have  made  too 
much  of  the  law  element,  and  too  little  of  the  element  of 
love.  As  a  consequence  it  has  not  been  easy  for  us  to 
see  how  it  is  that  God's  law  is  love,  and  that  love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  God's  law.  But  the  Ten  Commandments 
are  a  simple  record  of  God's  loving  covenant  with  His 
people,  and  they  are  not  the  arbitrary  commandings  of 
God  to  His  subjects.  They  indicate  the  inevitable  lim- 
its within  which  God  and  His  people  can  be  in  loving 
union,  rather  than  declare  the  limits  of  dutiful  obedience 
on  the  part  of  those  who  would  be  God's  faithful  subjects. 
A  close  examination  of  the  Decalogue  will  show  that 
this  is  its  nature  and  scope. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  our  Bible  reading  that  the 
Bible  was  originally  written  by  Orientals  for  Orientals, 
and  that  it  is  to  be  looked  at  in  the  light  of  Oriental  man- 
ners and  customs,  and  Oriental  modes  of  speech,  in  or- 
der to  its  fullest  understanding.  Hence  when  we  find 
the  term  "covenant,"  or  the  term  "commandment"  in 
the  Bible,  we  are  to  inquire  into  the  Oriental  meaning  of 
the  term,  so  that  we  may  know  the  sense  in  which  it  was 
employed  by  the  Bible  writers. 

Now  a  "covenant"  among  Orientals  is,  and  alv/ays 
has  been,  a  sacred  compact  binding  two  parties  in  loving 
agreement.  Oriental  covenants  are  made  in  various 
forms  and  by  various  ceremonies.  The  most  sacred  of 
all  forms  of  covenanting  in  the  East  is  by  two  persons 
commingling  their  own  blood,  by  its  drinking  or  by  its 
inter-transfusing,  in  order  that  they  may  come  into  a 
communion  of  very  life.  Two  persons  who  wish  to  be- 
come as  one  in  a  loving  blood-friendship  will  open  each 
a  vein  in  his  own  arm,  and  allow  the  blood  to  flow  into 
a  common  vessel,  from  which  both  parties  will  drink  of 
the  commingled  blood.     Or,  again,  each  person  will  open 


48  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

a  vein  in  one  of  his  hands,  and  the  two  bleeding  hands 
will  be  clasped  together  so  that  the  blood  from  the  one 
person  shall  find-  its  way  into  the  veins  of  the  other.  In 
each  instance  a  union  of  life  is  sought  after,  or  is  sym- 
bolized. Usually  a  written  compact  is  signed  by  each 
party  and  given  to  the  other,  with  the  stamp  of  the 
writer's  blood  upon  it,  as  a  part  of  the  ceremony  of  cov- 
enanting, and  this  writing  is  carefully  encased  in  a  small 
packet  or  casket,  and  guarded  by  its  holder  as  his  very 
life.  It  is  in  the  light  of  such  customs  as  this  that  we  are 
to  read  of  a  sacred  covenant  entered  into  between  God 
and  His  Oriental  people. 

It  was  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai,  that  Moses  came  be- 
fore the  people  of  Israel  with  God's  proffer  to  them  of  a 
covenant,  whereby  they  should  bear  His  name  and  be 
known  as  His  people.  "  And  he  took  the  book  of  the  cov- 
enant, and  read  in  the  audience  of  the  people  :  and  they 
said,  All  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  will  we  do,  and  be 
obedient."  Then  it  was  that  Moses  took  of  substitute 
blood  and  divided  it  into  two  portions,  one  half  to  be 
sprinkled  on  the  altar  Godward,  and  the  other  half  to  be 
sprinkled  on  the  people ;  and  Moses  said,  "  Behold  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  with 
you  concerning  all  these  words  " — or,  as  the  margin  of 
the  Revised  Version  has  it,  "  upon  all  these  conditions" 
(Exodus  xxiv.  6-8).  Moreover,  we  are  told,  in  Hebrews 
ix,  20,  that  Moses  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  record 
or  book  of  the  covenant  as  well  as  upon  the  people. 
It  was  after  this — after  the  breach  and  the  renewal 
of  the  covenant  between  Israel  and  God — that  the 
stone  tablets  on  which  the  covenant  itself  had  a  per- 
manent record  were  encased  in  a  casket,  or  an  *'ark," 
which  was  thenceforward  guarded  sacredly  as  cover- 
ing and  containing  the  charter  of  Israel's  nationality, 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS.  49 

the  testimony  of  the  loving  covenant  between  God  and 
His  people. 

But  you  may  ask,  Did  not  the  tables  of  stone  bear  a  rec- 
ord of  specific  commandments  rather  than  of  articles  of 
a  covenant  ?  And  are  not  the  words  there  recorded 
specifically  called  in  the  Bible  the  "Ten  Command- 
ments "  ?  Look  for  yourselves,  and  see.  It  is  true  that 
our  English  Bible  speaks  of  the  Ten  Commandments  re- 
corded on  these  tables  of  stone  ;  but  the  word  here  trans- 
lated "  commandments  "  is  more  literally  to  be  rendered 
"  words,"  as  indeed  it  is  given  in  the  margin  of  the  Re- 
vised Version  ;  and  it  is  applicable  to  any  declaration, 
injunction,  or  charge,  made  by  one  to  another.  It  is  by 
no  means  to  be  understood  as  simply  an  arbitrary  man- 
date from  an  absolute  sovereign  to  his  subjects.  Look- 
ing at  the  Ten  Commandments  as  a  set  of  moral  laws 
covering  man's  duties  to  God  and  to  his  fellows,  they 
seem  strangely  defective,  when  we  find  among  them  no 
command  to  pray  to  or  to  praise  God,  nor  any  command 
to  give  sympathy  or  assistance  to  man.  But  when  we 
look  at  them  as  clauses  of  a  loving  covenant,  indicating 
the  scope  and  limits  of  relations  within  which  a  child  of 
God's  duties  Godward  and  manward  are  to  be  exercised, 
we  find  that  they  are  far-reaching  and  all-inclusive. 
Looking  at  them  as  the  tables  of  the  covenant  between 
God  and  His  people  in  the  light  of  Oriental  views  of 
covenanting,  we  can  see  a  great  deal  more  in  the  words 
on  tho^e  tables  than  when  we  look  at  them  as  the  tables 
of  the  commandments — in  the  light  of  our  Western  ideas 
of  commandings. 

A  covenant  involves  the  idea  of  a  two-fold  agreement 
between  the  parties  making  it.  Even  though  God  Him- 
self be  one  of  the  parties,  He  will  not  refuse  to  be  ex- 
plicit in  His  words  of  covenanting.     And  so  we  find  it 


50  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

to  be  in  the  record  on  the  tables  of  the  covenant  which 
were  given  to  Moses  at  Mount  Sinai.  We  call  the  open- 
ing words  of  that  record — "The  Preface  to  the  Ten 
Commandments";  but  they  are  more  properly  God's 
covenanting  words  with  His  people.  "  I  am  Jehovah  thy 
God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage."  The  very  name  Jehovah  in- 
cludes the  idea  of  a  covenant-making  and  a  covenant-keep- 
ing God.  The  declaration  of  Jehovah's  eternally-exist- 
ing personality  as  Jehovah,  is  in  itself  a  covenant  prom- 
ise for  all  time  to  come,  to  those  who  are  His  covenant 
people.  It  is  as  though  He  were  to  say  :  "  I,  who  was, 
and  am,  and  am  to  be,  the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day, 
yea  and  forever,  will  be  your  God  unfailingly.  As  I 
have  given  you  a  loving  deliverance  out  of  Egyptian 
bondage,  so  I  am  ever  ready  to  deliver  you  from  every 
evil  that  enthralls  you." 

Man,  when  he  promises  for  the  future,  needs  to  say, 
"  I  will  do  ";  but  God  can  say  nothing  stronger  than  "  I 
do,"  or  than  "  I  am."  Thus  the  promise  of  promises  of 
Jesus  to  His  disciples,  as  their  ever-present,  all-sustain- 
ing Lord,  is,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway  ";  not,  "  Lo,  I  wt'// 
de,"  but  "Lo,  I  a?/i"  And  so  it  is  that  God's  covenant 
promise  to  Israel,  to  be  their  loving,  guarding,  and  guid- 
ing God  for  all  time  to  come,  is  in  the  words  :  "  I  am 
Jehovah  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  And  this  is  the 
promise  of  "the  party  of  the  first  part,"  as  we  should  say 
in  modern  legal  parlance,  in  this  covenant  between  God 
and  His  people  Israel. 

Then  there  follow  the  covenant  agreements  of  God's 
people,  as  "  the  party  of  the  second  part "  in  this  loving 
compact.  As  it  is  God  who  prescribes  or  defines  the 
terms  on  which  this  covenant  is  to  be  made,  the  indica- 


THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS.  5 1 

tion  of  these  terms  is  mainly  in  the  form  of  such  prohi- 
bitions as  will  distinguish  the  people  of  God  from  other 
people  about  them,  in  the  bearing  of  that  people  toward 
God's  personality,  toward  God's  institutions,  and  toward 
God's  representatives.  This  is  all  that  is  needed  in  the 
fundamental  articles  of  covenant.  The  details  of  spe- 
cific duties  may  be  defined  in  special  enactments  under 
the  terms  of  this  covenant,  or  they  may  be  inferred  from 
its  spirit. 

The  first  requirement  is  that  this  covenanting  God 
shall  be  recognized  as  the  only  God  ;  that  no  other  God 
shall  be  conceded  a  place  in  God's  universe.  And  this 
requirement  is  vital  to  any  such  covenant.  A  divided 
heart  is  no  heart  at  all.  He  who  can  see  any  other  ob- 
ject of  love  and  devotion  comparable  to  the  one  to 
whom  He  gives  Himself  in  covenant  union,  is  thereby 
incapacitated  from  a  covenant  union.  Therefore  it  is 
that  this  first  word  of  the  Ten  Words  of  the  covenant 
of  God's  people  with  their  God  is  not  an  arbitrary  man- 
date, but  is  the  simple  expression  of  a  truth  which  is 
essential  to  the  very  existence  of  the  covenant  as  a 
covenant  of  union. 

And  this  principle  is  as  vitally  important  now  as  it 
was  in  the  days  of  Moses.  The  human  heart  is  always 
inclined  to  divide  itself  when  it  ought  to  be  undivided. 
It  is  reluctant  to  be  wholly  and  always  true  to  God 
alone.  But  now  as  hitherto  without  wholeness  of  heart 
a  covenant  of  union  with  God  is  an  impossibility.  And, 
indeed,  the  very  idea  of  other  gods  seems  to  be  an  out- 
growth of  man's  sense  of  an  unfitness  to  be  in  oneness 
of  life  with  the  one  God  ;  in  consequence  of  which  man 
seeks  a  lower  divinity  than  the  supreme  God  as  the  im- 
mediate object  of  his  worship. 

The  second  requirement  in  this  covenant  of  union  is^ 


52  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

that  no  material  image  or  representation  of  this  cove- 
nanting God  shall  be  made  use  of  as  a  help  to  His  wor- 
ship by  His  covenanting  people  ;  that  as  a  Spirit  God 
shall  be  worshipped  in  spirit  by  His  people.  Here, 
again,  is  no  arbitrary  mandate,  but  only  the  recognition 
of  a  vital  truth.  Because  God  is  Creator  of  all,  no 
creation  of  God  can  be  like  God.  Because  God  is  a 
Spirit,  the  human  mind  can  best  commune  with  Him 
spiritually,  without  having  its  conceptions  of  Him  de- 
graded by  any  image  or  representation,  which  at  the 
best  must  be  wholly  unworthy  of  Him. 

In  this  second  requirement,  as  in  the  first,  a  danger  is 
indicated  to  which  the  Israelites  were  peculiarly  ex- 
posed in  their  day,  and  to  which  all  the  people  of  God 
are  exposed  in  any  day.  In  the  Assyrian,  or  Chaldean, 
home  of  Abraham  there  was  practically  no  image-wor- 
ship, but  there  was  a  belief  in  a  plurality  of  gods.  In 
the  Egyptian  home,  from  which  the  Israelites  had  just 
come  out,  images  in  great  variety  were  the  objects  of 
worship.  As  the  covenant  people  of  God,  the  Israel- 
ites were  to  refrain  from  the  polytheism  of  their  ances- 
tral home  in  the  far  East,  and  from  the  grosser  image- 
worship  of  their  more  recent  home  in  the  West.  And 
so  it  must  be  with  the  people  of  God  at  all  times  ;  they 
must  worship  only  God,  and  they  must  worship  God 
without  any  help  from  a  material  representation  of  the 
object  of  their  worship. 

As  there  is  still  a  temptation  to  give  a  divided  heart 
to  God,  so  there  is  still  a  temptation  to  seek  the  help  of 
some  visible  representation  or  symbol  of  God's  presence 
in  His  worship.  The  Christian  believer  does  not  bow 
down  to  an  idol,  but  many  a  Christian  believer  thinks 
that  his  mind  can  be  helped  upward  in  worship  by  look- 
ing at  some  representation  of  his  Saviour's  face,  or  at 


THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS.  $5 

some  symbol  of  his  Saviour's  passion.  But  just  because 
God  is  infinitely  above  all  material  representations  and 
symbols,  so  God  can  best  be  apprehended  and  discerned 
spiritually.  Anything  coming  between  man's  spirit  and 
God  the  Spirit  is  a  hindrance  to  worship  and  not  a  help 
to  it.  Suppose  a  young  man  were  watching  from  a  win- 
dow for  his  absent  mother's  return,  with  a  wish  to  catch 
the  first  glimpse  of  her  approaching  face.  Would  he  be 
wise  or  foolish,  in  putting  up  a  photograph  of  his 
mother  on  the  window  before  him,  as  a  help  to  bearing 
her  in  mind  as  he  looks  for  her  coming  ?  As  there  can 
be  no  doubt  about  the  answer  to  that  question,  so  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  we  can  best  come  into  spiritual 
communion  with  God  by  closing  our  eyes  to  everything 
that  can  be  seen  with  the  natural  eye,  and  opening  the 
eyes  of  our  spirit  to  the  sight  of  God  the  Spirit.  This, 
again,  is  no  arbitrary  requirement  of  God  ;  it  is  in  the 
very  nature  of  His  being  and  of  our  own. 

The  third  requirement  of  this  compact  is,  that  there 
shall  be  no  insincerity  on  the  part  of  God's  covenant 
people  in  their  claiming  and  bearing  His  name,  as  the 
name  of  their  covenanting  God.  This  requirement  is 
not  generally  understood  in  this  light  ;  but  all  the  facts 
in  the  case  go  to  show  that  this  is  its  true  light.  In  the 
Oriental  world,  and  in  the  primitive  world  everywhere, 
one's  name  stands  for  one's  personality  ;  and  the  right 
to  bear  one's  name,  or  even  to  call  on  one  by  his  per- 
sonal name,  is  a  proof  of  intimate  relation,  if  not  of 
actual  union,  with  him.  God  was  now  covenanting  with 
this  people  to  be  His  people  ;  thereby  authorizing  them 
to  bear  His  name  and  to  be  known  as  His  representa- 
tives. In  the  very  nature  of  things  this  laid  upon  them 
a  peculiar  obligation  to  bear  His  name  reverently  and 
in  all  sincerity. 


54  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

It  is  not  that  God  arbitrarily  commanded  His  people 
to  have  a  care  in  the  speakitig  of  His  name,  as  if  He  were 
jealous  of  its  irreverent  mention  ;  but  it  is  that  He  re- 
minded them  that  the  coming  into  the  privileges  of  His 
name  was  the  coming  into  the  responsibilities  of  that 
name.  It  was  as  though  Mr.  Moody  were  taking  a  little 
street  waif  into  his  home  to  train  the  boy  as  his  own 
son,  and  were  formally  giving  to  that  boy  the  right  to 
take  and  bear  his  name.  Naturally  he  might  say  : 
"Understand  now,  my  boy,  that  wherever  you  go  they'll 
say,  '  There  goes  a  young  Moody.'  Now,  I  value  my 
name,  and  I  don't  want  it  disgraced.  See  to  it  that  you 
take  care  of  that  name  wherever  you  are."  So  God  said 
to  His  people :  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  " — shalt  not  as- 
sume, bear,  carry — "  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in 
vain" — insincerely,  vainly — "for  the  Lord  will  not" — 
cannot — "  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  " — claimeth  the 
privileges  of — "His  name  in  vain  " — vainly,  insincerely. 

This  covenant  obligation  also  is  on  us  as  it  was  on 
God's  people  of  old.  As  Christians  we  are  baptized 
into  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Wherever  we  go  we  are  counted  as  members  of 
God's  family.  His  name  is  on  us,  and  His  honor  is  in 
our  keeping.  Wherefore,  "  let  every  one  that  nameth  the 
name  of  the  Lord  " — claimeth  it  as  His  own  name — 
"depart  from  unrighteousness";  and  let  him  never  feel 
that  it  is  a  light  or  a  vain  thing  to  bear  that  name  be- 
fore the  world. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  first  three  of  the  ten  require- 
ments of  the  loving  covenant  of  God's  people  with  their 
God,  are  simply  the  requirements  to  worship  God  as  the 
only  God,  to  worship  Him  in  unhindered  spirituality, 
and  to  worship  Him  in  all  sincerity.  These  three  funda- 
mental requirements  seem   to  have   been  in  the  mind 


THE   TEN  COMMANDMENTS.  55 

of  our  Lord  Jesus  when  He  said  to  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria at  the  well  of  Jacob  :  "  God  " — the  One  God — "  is 
a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

Coming  to  the  fourth  requirement  of  the  loving  cove- 
nant of  God  and  His  people,  we  find  it  differing  in  form 
from  the  preceding  three  requirements  ;  differing  also 
from  the  form  of  all  but  one  of  those  which  follow  it. 
The  preceding  three  are  in  the  negative  form  ;  this  is 
in  the  affirmative  form,  beginning  with  the  injunction, 
"  Remember.''  Of  course,  there  is  a  reason  for  this. 
The  first  three  requirements  are  in  the  line  of  obvious, 
if  not  of  self-evident,  truths;  the  requirement  of  one  day 
in  seven  for  rest  and  worship  is  not,  however,  of  obvious 
importance.  Hence  this  requirement  is  specifically  af- 
firmed as  an  article  of  the  covenant  ;  while  the  others 
guard  against  departures  from  primal  principles  of  vital 
moment. 

The  "  Sabbath  "  was  a  recognized  institution  long  be- 
fore the  days  of  Moses.  Traces  of  its  strict  and  sacred 
observance  in  the  ancestral  home  of  Abraham  are  dis- 
closed in  the  Assyrian  records  unearthed  in  these  later 
days.  And  now  that  the  Lord,  at  Sinai,  is  drawing 
away  His  covenant  people  from  the  sins  and  errors  of 
their  fathers  and  neighbors.  He  reminds  them  that  there 
is  good  in  some  of  the  observances  of  the  past  which 
they  are  not  to  forsake  or  forget.  "  Remember,"  there- 
fore He  says,  "  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy  " — as 
your  fathers  in  all  their  polytheism  had  a  care  to  ob- 
serve it  of  old.  Bear  that  institution  in  mind,  as  worth 
your  remembering. 

And  here,  again,  there  is  affirmed  a  principle  which 
is  for  all  time  and  for  all  people.  Although  the  reason 
for  setting   apart  one  day  above  another  for  rest  and 


56  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NURTHFIELD. 

worship  is  not  on  the  surface  of  things,  the  experiences 
of  mankind  as  well  as  the  teachings  of  God's  Word  go 
to  show  that  there  is  such  a  reason  below  the  surface. 
In  the  long  run  man  can  do  more  work,  and  do  it  better, 
in  six  days  of  a  week  than  he  can  in  seven  ;  and  unless 
a  man  worships  God  at  stated  times,  he  is  not  likely  to 
worship  Him  at  all.  So  it  is  that  God  makes  it  a  part 
of  His  loving  covenant  between  Himself  and  His  peo- 
ple, that  ever  and  always  they  shall  worship  Him  stated- 
ly, as  well  as  worship  Him  sincerely,  spiritually,  and 
solely  ;  because  without  this  stated  recognition  of  the 
covenant,  the  covenant  itself  would  be  forgotten. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  fifth  of  the  ten  covenant  re- 
quirements :  "  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother."  This 
also  is  in  the  affirmative  form,  and  for  a  very  good  rea- 
son. God  is  here  declaring,  as  it  were,  that  those  who 
are  in  legitimate  authority,  are  so  far  His  representa- 
tives. He  wants  it  understood  that  while  no  other  gods 
are  in  existence,  even  in  a  subordinate  place  in  the  uni- 
verse. He  has  His  representatives  in  various  spheres  of 
human  government  and  rule,  and  they  are  to  be  honored 
accordingly  by  His  covenant  people. 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  division  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  into  two  tables,  the  first  compris- 
ing four  requirements,  and  the  second  six  ;  but  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  fifth  requirement  belongs  with  the  pre- 
ceding four  in  the  group  of  those  which  look  Godward. 
It  is  as  though  the  one  table  pointed  upward  from  our- 
selves, while  the  other  pointed  outward.  We  are  to 
honor  those  who  are  over  us  in  the  Lord,  not  as  our 
fellows,  but  as  our  superiors  ;  not  because  of  what  they 
are  as  men,  but  because  they  are,  within  the  scope  of 
their  rule,  the  representatives  of  our  God. 

And  just  here  it  is  important  to  know  that  by  Qri- 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS.  ^7 

ental  custom  the  terms  "  father"  and  "  mother"  are  by 
no  means  limited  to  one's  natural  parents,  but  are  ap- 
plicable to  superiors  in  years,  or  in  wisdom,  or  in  civil 
or  religious  station.  This  truth  was  impressed  on  my 
mind  by  an  incident  in  my  journey  across  the  desert  of 
Sinai.  My  companions  in  travel  were  two  young  men, 
neither  of  them  a  relative  of  mine — as  my  dragoman 
very  well  knew.  When,  however,  in  mid-desert  we  met 
an  old  Arab  shaykh,  through  whose  territory  we  were 
to  pass,  my  dragoman  introduced  me  as  the  father  of 
these  young  men.  "  No  ;  they  are  not  my  sons,''  I  said 
to  the  dragoman  ;  but  his  answer  was  :  "  That's  all 
right.  Somebody  must  be  father  here."  And  when  I 
found  that  according  to  the  Arab  idea  every  party  of 
travellers  must  have  a  leader,  and  that  the  leader  of  a 
party  was  called  its  "  father,"  I  saw  that  it  would  look 
better  for  me  to  be  called  the  father  of  the  young  men, 
than  for  one  of  them  to  be  called  my  father. 

Traces  of  this  idea  are  found  in  the  Bible  use  of  the 
term  "  father."  In  Genesis,  Jabal  is  said  to  be  "  the 
father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents,  and  of  such  as  have 
cattle  ";  the  man  who  started  the  long  line  of  nomad 
shepherds.  Jubal  is  called  "  the  father  of  all  such  as 
handle  the  harp  and  the  organ";  the  pioneer  musician 
of  our  race.  Joseph  in  Egypt  speaks  of  himself  as  "  a 
father  to  Pharaoh,"  in  view  of  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him  by  the  ruler  of  the  empire.  ''  Be  unto  me  a 
father  and  a  priest,"  says  Micah  to  the  young  Levite,  in 
the  days  of  the  Judges  ;  because  a  religious  guide  is  in 
the  East  counted  as  in  a  peculiar  sense  a  representative 
of  God. 

It  is  not  merely  that  the  term  father  and  mother  may 
include  others  besides  human  parents  ;  but  it  is  that  no 
Oriental  would  think  of  limiting  those  terms  to  that  re- 


58  COLLEGE  STUDENIS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

lationship.  Hence  this  fifth  requirement  of  the  covenant 
of  God's  people  with  their  God,  just  as  it  stands,  is  in 
substance  :  Honor  those  who  are  over  you  in  the  Lord, 
as  the  representatives  of  the  Lord  ;  for  the  powers  that 
be  are  ordained  of  God,  and  he  who  fails  to  honor  them, 
lacks  in  due  honor  to  Him  who  has  deputed  them  to 
speak  and  to  act  for  Himself.  And  herein  is  affirmed 
a  principle  which  is  as  important  to  us  to-day,  as  it 
was  to  the  Israelites  in  the  days  of  Moses.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  questioned  whether  any  precept  of  the  ten 
covenant  requirements  has  a  more  specific  bearing  on 
the  peculiar  needs  of  the  American  people,  than  this  in- 
junction to  reverence  those  who  are  in  authority  because 
they  are  God's  representatives  in  their  sphere.  Anarchy 
can  have  no  tolerance  in  the  mind  of  a  child  of  God  ; 
but  reverence  for  rightful  authority  has  its  home  there. 
Turning  from  the  first  table  of  the  covenant  with  its 
upward  look,  to  the  second  table  with  its  outward  look, 
we  find  that  each  new  requirement  in  its  order  stands 
for  a  great  principle  which  is  applicable  alike  to  all  peoples 
and  to  all  times,  and  which  has  its  basis  in  man's  loving 
union  with  God.  The  first  of  this  series,  the  sixth  of  the 
ten  requirements,  is  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill  ";  or,  "  Thou 
shalt  do  no  murder."  Here  is  a  great  deal  more  than  an 
ordinance  forbidding  the  striking  down  to  death  of  a  fel- 
low-man. Here  is  a  call  of  God  to  guard  sacredly  the 
life  of  every  child  of  God,  as  that  which  is  dear  to  God. 
In  the  Oriental  world,  as  in  the  primitive  world  generally, 
blood  stands  for  life,  and  life  is  supposed  to  proceed  from 
God  and  to  return  to  God.  When,  therefore,  an  Oriental 
is  told  that  he  must  not  take  it  upon  himself  to  shed 
another's  blood,  he  realizes  that  that  prohibition  is  equiv- 
alent to  saying,  that  it  is  not  for  him  to  decide  when  a 
life  that  God  has  given  shall  be  recalled  to  God. 


THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS.  59 

This  idea  it  is  that  runs  through  the  whole  system  of 
what  is  popularly  known  as  "  blood  revenge,"  in  the 
East.  "  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his 
blood  be  shed  ;  for  in  the  image  of  God  made  He  man," 
was  the  declaration  of  God  as  early  as  the  days  of  Noah; 
and  it  is  in  the  line  of  that  declaration  that  any  man  in 
the  East  who  sheds  another's  blood  must  surrender  his 
own  blood  to  the  other's  family,  at  the  present  day — as 
ever  since  the  days  of  Noah.  Not  personal  revenge,  but 
divine  equity,  is  the  real  basis  of  this  system.  Not  be- 
cause the  life  belongs  to  the  man,  but  because  it  belongs 
to  God,  must  it  be  guarded  sacredly,  and  be  accounted 
for,  if  taken  away. 

It  is  on  this  principle  that  the  magistrate,  as  the  mes- 
senger of  God,  takes  the  life  of  one  who  has  taken 
another's  life  in  these  days  of  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion. "  He  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain  :  for  he  is  a 
minister  of  God,  an  avenger  for  wrath  to  him  that  doeth 
evil."  A  child  of  God  must  count  sacred  every  life 
which  God  has  given  ;  and  except  while  acting  as  a 
specific  messenger  of  God,  he  must  never  send  back  a 
human  life  to  God. 

The  seventh  covenanting  requirement  is  a  call  to  re- 
gard the  family  institution  as  an  institution  of  God's 
appointing,  and  to  refrain  from  aught  that  tends  to  its 
injury.  "  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,"  means  a 
great  deal  more  than.  Refrain  from  unchastity,  because 
of  its  harm  to  yourself  or  to  your  neighbor.  It  means, 
Guard  God's  primal  institution  for  man,  as  an  institu- 
tion which  God  holds  dear.  At  the  very  beginning  of 
the  race,  it  was  ordained  of  God  that  one  man  and  one 
woman — -'the  "twain,"  not  the  three  or  the  four,  but  the 
twain — should  be  one  flesh  in  loving  union.  This  insti- 
tution of  God's  ordaining  is  dear  to  God,  and  it  ought 


6o  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFlELt). 

to  be  dear  to  every  child  of  His  ;  therefore  God  says  to 
those  who  would  be  in  loving  compact  with  Him :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery."  *'  Because  your  and  My  in- 
terests are  made  one,  you  must  not,  you  cannot  as  My 
loving  people,  do  aught  that  shall  prove  injurious  to  the 
family,  to  the  institution  which  I  have  established,  and 
which  is  dear  to  My  heart." 

This,  again,  is  not  an  arbitrary  commandment,  nor  is 
it  one  for  a  single  period,  or  for  a  single  people  only. 
It  is  the  enunciation  of  a  principle  which  is  vital  to  the 
well-being  of  all  peoples  at  all  times.  It  was  so  from 
the  beginning,  and  it  must  be  so  unto  the  end.  The 
family  is  the  unit  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church.  It 
must  not  be  ignored  in  the  realm  of  society,  of  govern- 
ment, or  of  religion.  He  who  would  be  true  to  God 
must  be  true  to  the  institution  of  the  family.  And  who 
shall  say  that  we  have  no  need  of  remembering  this 
truth  in  our  land  and  day  ? 

The  eighth  requirement  of  the  covenant  guards  the 
rights  of  property  as  within  the  plan  and  ordering  of 
God.  "Thou  shalt  not  stieal,"  is  announced  as  an  arti- 
cle of  the  loving  compact  of  God's  people  with  their 
God.  Not  merely  because  your  fellow-man  would  ob- 
ject to  your  taking  his  property  from  him,  but  because 
the  rights  of  property  are  of  Divine  appointment,  are 
you  to  refrain  from  claiming  as  your  own  that  which 
now  belongs  to  another. 

This  idea  of  regarding  property  rights  as  of  God's 
appointment  is  peculiarly  prevalent  in  the  Oriental 
mind.  The  lines  of  tribal  division  in  the  desert  are 
recognized  as  having  Divine  sanction  ;  and  now  as  in 
the  days  of  old  it  is  hardly  less  than  sacrilege  to  remove 
an  ancient  landmark  in  the  East.  Tribes  which  are  at 
eamity  will  make  raids  across  these  border  lines  for  pur- 


THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS.  6l 

poses  of  plunder  ;  but  this  is  in  the  nature  of  what 
"civilized"  nations  call  a  "military  necessity."  Again, 
a  stranger  who  enters  a  tribal  domain  without  obtain- 
ing consent  is  treated  as  a  smuggler,  and  all  his  prop- 
erty is  confiscated  accordingly.  This,  however,  merely 
shows  the  primitive  origin  of  the  "high  tariff"  princi- 
ple. Orientals  who  plunder  from  their  enemies,  or  who 
collect  impost  duties  from  immigrants,  do  so  in  the  be- 
lief that  God  sanctions  these  habits  of  the  ages. 

When  one  of  the  Arabs  of  our  party,  in  crossing  the 
desert  of  Sinai,  found  he  had  dropped  a  bag  of  meal, 
he  went  back  to  look  for  it,  in  perfect  confidence  that  it 
would  be  left  untouched  by  others.  On  my  asking  him 
if  he  had  no  fear  that  another  Arab  had  carried  it  off, 
he  replied  that  no  Arab  would  steal  from  an  Arab.  Dr. 
Edward  Robinson  saw  a  black  tent  hanging  on  a  tree, 
where,  as  he  was  told,  it  had  remained  a  full  year  await- 
ing its  owner's  return  ;  and  he  says  that  if  a  loaded 
camel  dies  on  the  desert  its  owner  draws  a  circle  on  the 
sand  about  it,  and  leaves  it  without  any  fear  that  it  will 
be  disturbed  in  his  absence.  Burckhardt  illustrates  the 
estimate  put  by  the  Arabs  on  stealing,  by  the  story  of 
an  Arab  father  who  bound  his  own  son  hand  and  foot 
and  cast  him  headlong  to  death  from  a  precipice,  be- 
cause the  son  had  stolen  from  one  of  his  tribal  fellows. 
Life  can  only  be  taken  at  the  call  of  God  ;  but  accord- 
ing to  this  Oriental  view  he  who  violates  the  property 
rights  of  one  of  God's  children  forfeits  his  own  life 
to  God. 

The  principle  underlying  this  estimate  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  property  rights,  like  every  other  principle  enun- 
ciated in  the  Decalogue,  is  not  an  outgrowth  of  an 
arbitrary  commandment,  but  it  inheres  in  the  very 
nature  of  God's  dealings  with  the  sons  of  men.     What 


02  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

hast  thou,  that  thou  didst  not  receive  by  God's  consent? 
What  has  thy  fellow,  that  he  did  not  receive  by  the 
same  permission  ?  It  is  God  who  gives.  It  is  for  God 
to  take  away.  No  loving  child  of  God  will  refuse  to 
heed  the  limits  which  his  Father  has  assigned  in  the 
distribution  of  His  possessions  among  the  children  of 
His  love.  That  was  the  way  in  which  the  Orientals  were 
taught  to  look  at  it.  That  is  the  way  which  we  ought 
to  view  it.  Anti  -  property  communism  is  rebellion 
against  God. 

Ninth  in  the  list  of  the  covenant  requirements,  comes 
the  summons  to  hold  in  sacred  regard  the  personal  rep- 
utation, or  good  name,  of  every  child  of  God.  ''  Thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor,"  is  a 
prohibition  of  slander,  or  of  careless  speech  affecting 
the  good  name  of  one's  fellow-man.  This-  is  not,  as 
many  have  supposed,  a  mere  injunction  to  truthful 
speech  on  all  occasions.  Lying  needs  no  specific  prohi- 
bition in  a  loving  compact  between  God  and  His  people  ; 
although  the  duty  of  truthfulness  is  inseparable  from 
the  thought  of  any  compact  with  God — who  could  not 
be  God  if  He  were  to  approve  untruthfulness.  But  a 
disregard  of  the  reputation  of  one's  fellow-man  does 
need  to  be  guarded  against  in  such  a  compact ;  there- 
fore its  mention  has  a  place  here. 

A  child's  good  name  is  always  dear  to  his  father.  He 
who  loves  and  honors  the  father  will  not  be  heedless  of 
the  reputation  of  the  child.  God  is  the  Father  of  all. 
The  good  name  of  every  one  of  His  children  is  dear  to 
Him.  He  who  loves  and  honors  God,  will  not  be  care- 
less of  the  reputation  of  any  one  of  God's  children. 
Therefore  it  is  that,  in  the  loving  covenant  of  God  with 
His  people,  it  is  declared  that  love  for  God  includes  a 
truthful  fidelity  to  the  good  name  of  every  child  of  God, 


THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS.  63 

How  the  application  of  this  principle  comes  home  to 
us  in  our  social  life  as  God's  children  !  We  are  jealous 
of  the  good  name  of  the  members  of  our  own  families. 
We  are  tender  of  the  reputation  of  those  whom  we  know 
to  be  very  dear  to  our  dearest  friends.  But  how  careless 
we  are  of  the  good  name  of  those  in  whom  we  feel  no 
special  concern,  or  of  the  reputation  of  those  who  hap- 
pen to  be  personally  disagreeable  to  us.  We  hear  and 
repeat  the  words  spoken  to  their  discredit  without  know- 
ing whether  or  not  those  words  are  true.  By  our  un- 
guarded speech  or  looks  we  help,  perhaps,  to  give  a 
false  impression  to  others  concerning  them.  And  all  the 
while  they  are  God's  dear  children,  and  every  spiteful 
or  thoughtless  blow  at  them  is  a  stroke  at  Him.  Is  this 
consistent  with  our  claim  of  loving  union  with  their 
God  and  ours  ? 

It  was  in  the  line  of  this  principle  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
gave  emphasis  to  His  one  new  commandment,  that  those 
who  loved  Him  should  love  one  another,  as  being  dear 
to  Him  ;  and,  again,  that  He  declared  that  whoever  min- 
istered tenderly  to  one  of  His  disciples  should  be  reck- 
oned as  ministering  to  Himself.  God  links  Himself  in 
loving  sympathy  with  all  His  children,  and  He  wants 
their  welfare  to  be  held  dear  by  all  who  hold  Him 
dear. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  tenth  and  last  of  the  require- 
ments of  this  covenant.  Here  we  find  an  injunction 
that  goes  deeper  than  those  which  precede  it  on  the 
second  tablet  of  the  written  compact.  "  Thou  shalt  not 
covet."  Not  only.  Thou  shalt  not  openly  disregard 
human  life,  or  the  family  institution,  or  the  property  or 
the  reputation  of  any  one  of  thy  fellows  ;  but.  Thou 
shalt  not  want  to  do  any  of  these  things.  Thou  shalt 
recognize  thine  own  lot,  and  thy  possessions,  as  God's 


64  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

assignment  to  thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  be  contented  in 
the  sphere  which  lie  has  deemed  best  for  thee. 

This  requirement  in  the  second  table  of  the  compact 
corresponds  with  the  third  requirement  in  the  first  table. 
The  one  says  that  the  child  of  God  must  be  sincere  and 
unfeigned  in  his  loving  devotedness  to  God  as  his  Fa- 
ther ;  the  other  says  that  the  child  of  God  must  accept  in 
all  heartiness  his  Father's  ordering  concerning  himself, 
in  his  relations  to  all  his  brothers  and  sisters  in  the  great 
family  of  God. 

Here  it  is  that  we  find  the  more  spiritual  teachings  of 
the  Decalogue  concerning  man's  obligations  to  his  fel- 
low-man in  the  loving  service  of  God,  as  they  are 
pointed  out  and  emphasized  in  the  words  of  Jesus,  in 
what  we  call  the  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount."  Here  it  is 
that  the  lesson  comes  home  to  us  that  it  is  not  enough 
for  us  to  refrain  from  actual  murder,  and  adultery,  and 
theft,  and  false  witnessing,  but  that  it  is  inconsistent 
with  our  devotedness  to  God  as  our  loving  Father,  for 
us  to  have  a  hateful  thought  toward  one  of  His  dear 
children  ;  for  us  to  look  longingly  in  the  direction  of 
another  family  assignment  than  that  which  is  ours  in  the 
way  of  God's  appointment,  or  to  turn  a  wistful  thought 
toward  any  possession  of  another  which  we  have  no  right 
to  seek  after.  And  all  this  is  not  of  God's  arbitrary 
commanding,  but  is  in  the  very  essence  of  God's  loving 
covenanting  with  His  chosen  people. 

And  now  in  the  light  of  these  disclosures  of  the  nature 
and  meaning  of  the  successive  clauses  of  this  covenant 
of  God  vv^ith  his  Oriental  people,  let  us  look  back  upon 
it  as  a  whole  in  its  spirit  and  teachings,  in  order  that  we 
may  see  what  is  covered  by  it,  and  wherein  its  applica- 
tions are  for  us  as  well  as  for  God's  people  of  old.  God 
niust  be  recognized  as  God  alone.     No  heart  can  love 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS.  65 

God  as  God,  unless  it  loves  God  wholly.  God  must  be 
worshipped  spiritually  ;  for  spiritual  things  are  spirit- 
ually discerned,  and  only  as  a  man  is  lifted  above  sight 
and  sense  can  he  be  in  communion  with  the  spiritual  and 
the  infinite.  Union  with  God  must  be  sincere  and 
unfeigned  ;  for  only  by  a  complete  and  willing  sur- 
render of  one's  self  can  one's  self  be  merged  into  a 
holy  and  infinite  Personality.  The  loving  worship 
of  God  must  have  its  stated  times,  and  hence  of  course 
its  stated  places,  in  order  to  have  its  fitting  hold  on 
the  worshipper ;  and  the  recognition  of  this  truth 
in  the  covenant  is  the  authorization  of  all  legitimate 
seasons  and  methods  of  worship.  God's  represent- 
atives in  the  family,  in  the  State,  and  in  the  Church,  are 
to  be  honored  as  God's  representatives  ;  and  herein  is 
the  authorization  of  all  right  forms  of  human  rule. 
These  are  the  teachings  of  the  first  table  of  the  cove- 
nant ;  and  those  of  the  second  table  are  like  unto  them. 
He  who  loves  God  must  love  all  who  are  God's.  As 
the  Apostle  expresses  it :  "  If  a  man  say,  I  love  God, 
and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar  ;  for  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  cannot  love  God 
whom  he  hath  not  seen.  And  [therefore]  this  [second] 
commandment  have  we  from  Him,  that  he  who  loveth 
God  love  his  brother  also."  Every  child  of  man  is  a 
child  of  God.  Wayward  and  prodigal  son  though  he 
be,  he  still  is  one  who  was  made  in  the  image  of  God  ; 
and  his  Father's  heart  goes  out  toward  him  unfailingly 
in  love.  Hence  he  who  loves  the  Father  must  guard 
with  sacredness  the  life  of  every  child  of  that  Father. 
He  must  honor  the  institution  of  the  family,  which  is 
the  human  hope  of  the  children  of  that  Father.  He 
must  hold  dear  the  property  possessions  and  the  good 
name  of  each  and  every  child  of  that  Father.     And  in 


66  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORriiFIELD. 

his  heart  there  must  be  such  love  for  that  Father's  chil- 
dren as  the  children  of  his  Father,  that  he  will  have  no 
wish  to  do  aught  that  shall  harm  any  one  of  them  in  any 
degree. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  spirit  and  substance  of  the  entire 
covenant  compact  stand  out  in  those  words  of  our  Lord 
which  lose  their  meaning  if  we  look  at  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments as  ten  arbitrary  commandings  of  God. 
When  a  certain  lawyer  came  to  Jesus  with  the  knotty 
question  :  "  Master,  which  is  the  great  commandment  in 
the  law?"  Jesus  said  unto  him  :  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  great  and  first  com- 
mandment. And  a  second  like  unto  it  is  this,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  com- 
mandments hangeth  the  whole  law,  and  the  prophets." 
And  thus  it  is  that  we  are  enabled  to  realize  that  "  love 
is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law." 

The  "Ten  Commandments"  are  the  law;  but  belt 
remembered,  they  are  not  the  Mosaic  law.  They  were 
not  originated  by  Moses  ;  nor  were  they  done  away 
with,  when  the  Mosaic  law  was  fulfilled  and  abrogated 
in  Christ.  They  are  the  law  of  love.  Their  origin  is 
in  the  nature  of  God  ;  and  their  continuance  must  be 
coexistent  with  the  needs  of  the  children  of  God.  With 
all  our  shortcomings  in  love,  and  with  all  our  failures  in 
fidelity  to  our  covenant  union  with  God  in  Christ  Jesus, 
just  so  far  as  we  are  in  oneness  with  God  by  faith  shall 
we  be  true  to  the  principles  of  this  covenant  compact 
of  God  with  His  people.  "  God  is  love,  and  he  that 
abideth  in  love,  abideth  in  God,  and  God  abideth  in 
him."  "  And  hereby  know  we  that  we  know  Him,  if  we 
keep  His  commandments." 


CHAPTER    V. 

CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING. 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Hudson  Taylor — Spiritual  Laws  Invariable 
— An  Exposition  of  Two  Chapters — Significant  Repetitions — God's 
Delight  in  the  Offerings  of  His  Children — Separation  from  the 
World — The  Three-Fold  Blessing — Joyful  Service  the  Outcome — 
Infinite  Resources  at  Command. 

We  find  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  between  the 
works  of  God  and  the  works  of  man.  God's  works  are 
absolutely  perfect ;  man's  are  only  relatively  so.  The 
most  perfect  needle  may  be  perfect  for  the  work  to 
which  it  is  adapted  ;  but  make  it  a  microscopic  object, 
and  the  smooth  hole  appears  ragged,  and  the  needle 
becomes  a  honeycombed  poker.  Take,  on  the  contrary, 
a  hair  from  the  leg  of  a  fly,  or  the  dust  from  a  butter- 
fly's wing.  Magnify  these,  and  they  are  seen  to  be  abso- 
lutely perfect.  Now,  there  is  no  more  difficulty  in  rec- 
ognizing the  Word  of  God  from  the  word  of  man  than 
there  is  in  recognizing  the  work  of  God  from  the  work 
of  man.  You  need  the  minute  examination  and  the 
anointed  eye  that  can  perceive  its  beauties — which  don't 
lie  on  the  surface.  In  this  way  God's  Word  contains  the 
best  evidence  of  its  own  inspiration.  It  could  not  have 
been  forged  or  manufactured. 

The  subject  of  Consecration  has  been  suggested  to 
me,  and  though  as  a  missionary  the  work  I  have  been 
so  long  engaged  in,  and  the  field  in  which  I  am  so  deep- 
ly interested,  are  most  prominent  in  my  own  mind,  I 

(67) 


68  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

feel  the  appropriateness  of  speaking  on  Consecration, 
because  apart  from  it  there  may  be  much  work  done 
with  comparatively  little  result.  Spiritual  laws  are  not 
less  definite  and  certain  than  natural  laws  :  and  an  ex- 
perience of  many  years  in  God's  work  has  more  and 
more  convinced  me  that  cause  and  effect  are  as  certain 
in  spiritual  things  as  in  natural  things.  A  given  num- 
ber of  atoms,  say  of  sulphuric  acid,  combined  with  a 
given  number  of  atoms,  say  of  carbonate  of  soda,  will 
produce  a  definite  number  of  atoms  of  sulphate  of  soda. 
In  like  manner  a  given  amount  of  spiritual  power  oper- 
ating according  to  spiritual  laws  will  always  produce 
like  and  definite  results.  There  is  no  change  since 
Apostolic  times  in  this  respect.  Spiritual  cause  and 
effect  operate  exactly  now  as  they  did  then,  for  God  is 
unchanging.  These  spiritual  laws  may  be  discovered 
by  the  prayerful  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  in  depend- 
ence on  His  Spirit  as  a  true  interpreter.  And  here  I 
v/ould  urge  on  my  young  friends  the  importance  of 
Bible  study.  We  all  desire  to  be  truly  prosperous  men. 
God  desires  that  we  should  prosper — not  in  some  of  our 
undertakings  merely,  but  in  them  all.  In  the  first  two 
verses  of  the  first  Psalm  we  have  the  path  that  leads  to 
unerring  prosperity  :  "  Whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  pros- 
per." While  the  first  verse  points  out  the  negative  side 
— the  avoiding  of  the  evils  that  would  hinder — the  sec- 
ond verse  gives  us  the  all-important  positive  side  :  "  His 
delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  in  His  law  doth 
he  meditate  day  and  night."  It  is  very  easy  to  ascertain 
in  what  a  man  takes  delight.  Those  who  are  fond  of 
athletics  will  be  talking  about  them  when  not  engaged 
in  them.  Those  who  are  fond  of  science  have  their 
hearts  full  of  it,  and  are  always  glad  to  speak  of  their 
favorite  pursuit  as  well  as  to  engage  in  it.     Do  our 


CONSECRATION   AND   BLESSING.  69 

friends  discover  that  our  delight,  our  hope,  is  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord  ?  If  they  do,  we  shall  not  fail  of  pros- 
perity. In  pursuits,  literary  or  commercial,  in  the  home- 
life,  in  things  great  and  small,  we  shall  prosper  in  what- 
soever we  set  our  hand  to,  if  we  carry  out  this  great  law 
of  God. 

I  propose  this  morning  to  draw  your  attention  to  the 
two  chapters  of  Numbers,  vi.  and  vii.,  and  to  their  con- 
nection with  each  other.  First,  allow  me  to  make  a 
remark  upon  the  7th  chapter.  It  is  the  longest  chapter 
in  the  Bible.  For  a  long  time  it  was  one  of  the  most 
uninteresting  to  me,  because  it  was  so  full  of  repetitions. 
One  used  to  think  all  that  was  important  in  that  chap- 
ter might  have  been  condensed  in  a  very  few  verses. 
No  doubt  the  condensation  might  have  been  very  easily 
made,  but  at  the  expense  of  condensing  out  of  the  chap- 
ter that  which  is  its  peculiar  revelation  ;  the  delight  of 
God  as  a  Father  in  the  loving  offerings  of  His  willing 
people.  The  twelve  princes  brought  their  offerings  for 
dedication  to  the  altar,  and  presented  them  before  the 
tabernacle.  They  expected  that  the  whole  thing  would 
be  over — and  it  might  have  been  over — in  a  few  min- 
utes. But  God  would  not  have  it  so.  He  designed  to 
spread  it  over  twelve  days  ;  and  in  the  record  He  has 
given  us  in  this  wonderful  Bible,  He  has  given  the 
longest  chapter  to  record  the  offerings  of  each  prince 
on  each  day.  As  many  words  are  used  to  describe  the 
offerings  of  the  last  of  the  princes  as  of  the  first.  And 
we  are  reminded  of  what  we  sometimes  see  at  the  mar- 
riage of  distinguished  personages,  where  the  wedding 
presents  are  spread  out  in  the  most  effective  way  so  that 
all  the  friends  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  may  see  and 
rejoice  in  the  love-gifts  they  have  received  on  this  occa- 
sion.    The  fact  that  several  friends  have  presented  a 


70  COLLEGE    STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

similar  article  is  no  reason  why  it  shouldn't  be  well  dis- 
played. Thus  we  see  in  the  chapter  in  question  the 
delight  and  satisfaction  of  God  in  the  offerings  of  His 
people,  and  especially  in  the  offerer  who  had  the  heart  to 
give  the  gift.  For  the  description  of  each  prince's  offer- 
ing is  commenced  with  his  name  and  pedigree,  and  after 
the  gift  objects  have  been  named,  we  have  again,  "  This 
is  the  offering  of  so-and-so,  prince  of  such  a  tribe." 
Nor  was  all  this  detail  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  heart  of 
our  Father.  Toward  the  close  of  this  long  chapter  we 
get  the  sum  total  of  all  the  offerings  brought  out  ;  and 
the  total  amount  of  the  gold  and  the  silver,  and  the 
total  number  of  the  sacrifices  for  burnt-offerings,  and 
sin-offerings,  and  peace-offerings,  are  given  us,  as  well 
as  each  detail  which  the  earlier  part  of  the  chapter 
records. 

Now,  all  this  is  very  instructive  ;  and  the  record  here 
carries  us  forward  to  a  coming  day  in  which  God  will 
bring  to  light  every  little  hidden  service  of  His  children, 
and  will  let  assembled  worlds  see  the  delight  He  has 
had  in  that  which  has  met  no  eye,  but  which  has  glad- 
dened the  heart  of  our  Father  in  Heaven.  For  He  is  a 
Father  indeed  ;  and  it  is  delightful  to  realize  that  all 
that  fatherhood*  ever  has  been  or  has  produced — all  that 
motherhood  has  ever  brought  to  our  notice — all  indeed 
that  is  noble  and  pure  and  tender  and  true,  is  but  an 
outcome  of  the  great,  loving  heart  of  our  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther. There  is  more  light  in  the  glorious  sun  than  in 
any  of  the  thousands  of  reflections  in  the  little  dew- 
drops  of  a  spring  morning.  So  there  is  more  love  and 
complacency  and  gratification  in  His  children  in  the 
heart  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  than  all  the  gratification 
that  earthly  parents  and  earthly  friends  have  ever  felt 
in  the  objects  of  their  affection.  May  we  not  here  remark 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  ^1 

that  it  is  an  important  consideration  that  God  does  not 
take  up  natural  objects  end  natural  relationships  as 
more  or  less  appropriate  illustrations  of  Divine  things, 
but  the  Divine  thought  being  pre-existing,  natural  rela- 
tionships and  natural  objects  were  made  to  exemplify 
them.  We  find  in  Scripture  the  word  "  true  "  used  with 
regard  to  a  number  of  objects  :  the  true  bread,  the  true 
wine,  the  true  manna,  the  true  tabernacle  ;  and  what  is 
this  intended  to  teach  us  ?  God  could  have  made  man 
to  need  no  sleep — to  need  no  food — as  we  have  reason 
to  suppose  the  angels  were  made  ;  but  had  this  been 
the  case,  we  should  have  known  nothing  of  rest,  as  we 
now  know  it,  nor  could  we  have  learned  the  spiritual 
truths  revealed  to  us  through  the  illustration  of  food 
and  nourishment.  So  that  the  bread  w^e  eat  is  not  true 
bread  ;  but  Christ  is  the  true  bread,  of  which  it  is  mere- 
ly a  type.  And  the  earthly  relationship  of  parent  and 
child  is  only  a  type  and  dim  reflection  of  the  pre-existing 
relationship  in  the  Divine  mind  ;  and  all  that  the  bride- 
groom and  bride  bring  before  us  of  trust  and  of  love^ 
are  only  intended  to  teach  us  the  true  relationship  of 
the  Church  to  Christ,  and  of  Christ  to  His  Church. 
Hence  we  are  not  making  a  mistake  in  feeling  that 
those  joys  and  pleasures  which  affection  brings  with  it 
existed  in  the  heart  of  our  glorious  Father  and  of  the 
great  Bridegroom  ;  that  we  only  rightly  know  Him 
when  we  realize  the  privilege  we  have  of  making  glad 
the  heart  of  God  ;  that  to  please  God  is  to  give  God 
pleasure,  as  earthly  parents  receive  pleasure  when  their 
children  please  them.  Let  me  illustrate  this  by  a  little 
incident  that,  not  important  in  itself,  will  perhaps  throw 
light  on  this  important  truth.  After  a  long  absence 
from  home  I  returned  to  England  many  years  ago  ;  and 
on   my  birthday,  my  little  daughter — a  wee  girlie  of 


72  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

about  four  years  of  age — came  to  me  with  a  curious 
little  thing  in  her  hand,  saying  :  "  Papa,  I  thought  you 
would  rather  have  something  I  made  myself  than  any- 
thing I  could  buy  for  you ;  so  I  haven't  bought  you  a 
birthday  present,  but  have  made  you  one."  How  glad 
my  heart  was  that  my  dear  child  should  recognize  this 
fact,  that  even  her  little  work  would  bring  more  pleas- 
ure to  her  father  than  anything  that  could  be  bought. 
But  I  looked  at  the  little  gift  with  some,  perplexity,  not 
wishing  to  grieve  the  child  by  letting  her  see  I  didn't 
know  what  it  was  intended  to  be,  and  yet  not  knowing 
what  to  make  of  it.  There  was  a  little  piece  of  wood, 
perhaps  three  inches  by  an  inch  and  a  half.  The  dear 
child  had  bored  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  it  with  a  scis- 
sors, and  put  a  peg  into  the  hole,  on  which  she  hung 
half  a  cockle-shell.  After  some  little  puzzling,  I  was 
obliged  to  say  to  her  :  "  I  am  so  glad,  darling,  you  have 
made  me  a  pretty  present,  but  what  is  it  ?"  She  looked 
at  me  with  some  surprise,  and  said  :  "  Why,  papa,  don't 
you  know  ?  It  is  a  ship  to  take  you  to  China.  I  thought 
nothing  would  please  you  so  much  as  a  ship  to  take  you 
to  Chi-na."  How  glad  my  heart  was  that  even  my  little 
girlie  understood  my  love  for  China  and  the  Chinese, 
and  that  she  had  so  far  sympathized  with  it  as  to  make 
me  a  little  object  which  she  thought  would  please  me 
because  of  its  connection,  in  her  mind,  with  China.  I 
have  that  rude  toy  now,  carefully  stored  up  among  my 
treasures,  and  the  thought  of  it  has  been  a  joy  to  me 
during  many  years  of  separation  from  her.  But  before 
I  left  her  a  year  and  a  half  ago  in  China,  where  she  is 
now  working  as  a  missionary,  she  introduced  me  to  two 
Chinamen  whom  she  had  been  the  means  of  winning  to 
Christ,  and  my  heart  was  still  more  glad.  I  reminded  her 
of  the  long-forgotten  gift  she  had  made  me  so  many  years 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  J^ 

before.  I  told  her  that  my  heart  was  more  glad  now  in 
seeing  the  fruit  of  her  work  for  Christ  than  it  had  been 
then  ;  but  the  love  of  the  little  girlie  was  not  the  less 
precious  to  memory  on  that  account.  Now,  our  service 
to  God  may  be  as  absolutely  valueless  as  that  little  toy 
was  to  me  ;  but  if  my  finite  heart  took  so  much  pleasure 
in  the  loving  wish  to  please  my  little  child,  how  much 
joy  must  the  great  heart  of  God  be  capable  of  when  it 
sees  the  fruit  of  heart  and  life  devoted  to  His  service  ? 

To  revert  :  So  far  for  this  long  chapter,  the  7th  of 
Numbers  ;  but  it  is  the  second  of  the  two  to  which  I 
wish  to  draw  your  attention.  And  I  would  specially 
emphasize  not  merely  the  subject-matter  of  the  two 
chapters,  but  their  relation  to  each  other.  The  shorter 
6th  chapter  is  a  prelude  to  the  longer  7th,  and  in  that 
shorter  6th  chapter  we  have  two  distinct  thoughts 
brought  before  us.  The  first  is  consecration,  the  sec- 
ond is  the  blessing  of  God  ;  and  then  comes  that  long 
7th  chapter — the  outcome  of  that  blessing  in  practical 
loving  gift  and  service.  Let  us,  however,  look  a  little 
in  detail  at  the  6th  chapter.  We  find  under  the  old 
covenant  many  blessings  given  to  the  people  of  God  as 
temporary  gifts  which  are  intended  to  be  enjoyed  under 
the  new  covenant  as  permanent  blessings.  For  instance, 
in  the  matter  of  consecration,  God  said  to  an  Israelite  : 
*'  Now,  if  you  wish  to  fully  consecrate  your  life  to  Me, 
to  separate  yourself  unto  the  Lord,  you  are  at  liberty  to 
do  so  for  any  period  that  you  desire."  The  vow  of  a 
Nazarite  might  be  taken  for  a  year,  or  for  five  or  seven 
years — for  a  half  or  a  whole  lifetime.  God  seemed  to 
say  :  "  You  may  just  go  in  for  as  much  consecration 
and  blessing  as  you  have  the  heart  to."  But  under  the 
new  covenant  God  would  have  us  all  to  recognize  all 
through  our  Christian  life  that  we  are  not  our  own,  that 


74  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTIIFIELD. 

we  are  bought  with  a  price,  and  that  He  has  a  rightful 
claim  to  all  we  have  and  to  all  we  are.  In  like  manner 
under  the  old  covenant  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  for 
special  service  on  special  occasions,  but  it  was  needful 
for  the  receiver  to  pray  :  "  Take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit 
from  me."  The  Spirit  was  given  to  Saul,  but  was  taken 
away  ;  and  we  might  find  other  illustrations  of  the  same 
truth.  But  to  the  believer  under  the  new  covenant,  the 
Spirit  is  given  as  a  seal  upon  a  document,  never  to  be 
removed — as  an  earnest  not  to  be  recalled  until  the  re- 
demption of  the  purchased  possession.  We  may  grieve 
the  Spirit,  and  lose  the  benefit  of  His  guidance  ;  but 
the  Spirit  does  not  leave  the  believer.  "  If  any  man 
have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  His."  What 
we  want  is  to  have  the  open  ear,  always  ready  to  hear 
and  to  obey  the  precious  One  who  has  taken  His  abode 
within  us. 

With  this  thought  in  view — that  consecration  in  the 
believer  should  be  permanent  and  constant,  let  us  look 
at  a  few  of  the  particulars  that  are  brought  before  us 
by  this  chapter.  When  either  man  or  woman  separated 
himself  by  the  vow  of  a  Nazarite,  he  was  not  hence- 
forward to  be  guided  by  his  own  thoughts  and  desires, 
but  by  the  will  of  God  so  far  as  it  was  revealed  to  him- 
Sometimes  in  the  present  day  we  find  the  children  of 
God  brought  into  perplexity  by  this  question  :  *'  Can 
you  show  me  the  sin  of  this  or  that — or  the  wrong  of 
this  or  that  ?  "  These  are  scarcely  the  questions  for  the 
loving  child  of  God  to  raise.  The  question  rather 
should  be  :  "  Can  you  show  me  how  I  shall  give  pleasure 
to  God,  and  satisfaction  to  Him,  by  this  or  that?"  In 
the  third  verse  of  the  sixth  chapter  the  Nazarite  was  di- 
rected to  separate  himself  from  wine  and  strong  drink. 
If  this  had  been  all^  we  might  have  said  there  was  a 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  75 

reason  for  it :  wine  and  strong  drink  are  so  often  abused, 
and  are  injurious.  But  the  verse  continues  that  vinegar, 
and  any  liquor  of  grapes,  or  moist  grapes,  or  dried,  were 
equally  to  be  avoided.  "All  the  days  of  his  separation 
shall  he  eat  nothing  that  is  made  of  the  vine-tree,  from 
the  kernel  even  to  the  husk."  Now,  there  is  no  fruit 
that  is  more  wholesome  or  more  enjoyable  than  the  fruit 
of  the  vine.  But  just  as  God  claimed  His  place  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  by  prohibiting  the  fruit  of  one  tree,  so 
does  He  reclaim  His  place  to  the  Nazarite  by  prohibit- 
ing the  fruit  of  this  tree,  good  and  excellent  as  it  is  in 
itself.  To  avoid  it  was  made  the  test  of  obedience. 
Will  not  this  principle  oftentimes  help  us  in  Christian 
life  ?  As  servants  of  Christ  must  we  not  follow  Him 
who  emptied  Himself — not  of  that  which  is  evil,  for  there 
was  nothing  of  evil  in  Him  to  be  emptied,  but  of  that 
which  was  good  in  itself,  yet  unsuited  to  the  special 
service  which  He  undertook  for  our  salvation  ?  Again, 
the  Nazarite  was  wholly  separated  unto  the  Lord.  He 
was  not  merely  to  recognize  this  in  what  he  partook  of, 
but  for  the  time  being  his  body  was  wholly  the  Lord's. 
God  claimed  every  hair  of  his  head.  All  the  outcome 
of  his  life  was  holy  to  the  Lord,  as  well  as  that  life  it- 
self. And  is  it  not  written,  dear  friends,  of  us  that  the 
very  hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered  ?  It  is  beauti- 
ful to  see  a  young  mother  with  fond  endearment  passing 
her  fingers  through  the  silken  hair  of  her  darling  child. 
She  loves  that  hair,  for  it  is  the  hair  of  her  child.  But 
she  never  thinks  of  counting  the  hairs  of  the  head. 
With  more  of  thoughtful  love,  He  with  whom  we  have 
to  do  counts  the  very  hairs  of  our  head  and  numbers 
them,  and  not  one  falls  to  the  ground  unnoticed  or  un- 
cared  for  by  Hitn.  In  full  consecration  to  God  it  is  a 
joy  to  recognize  all  our  members,  all  our  faculties — 


76  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

every  fibre  of  our  body,  and  f^iculty  of  mind,  and  appe- 
tite, and  propensity — all  as  His,  for  His  service  and 
glory  ;  and  as  His  children  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God  : 
when  we  lie  down  on  the  pillow  at  night,  to  rest  the 
body  for  Him^-when  we  rise  in  the  morning,  to  rise  for 
His  service  and  pleasure — to  perform  the  acts  of  the 
toilet  for  Him,  that  we  may  be  worthy  of  Him  who  is 
our  Father ;  and  in  each  little  thing  of  daily  life  pleas- 
ing Him  by  recognizing  that  we  are  wholly  His.  Not 
only  was  the  Nazarite  to  recognize  his  hair  as  the  Lord's  : 
he  was  not  to  trim  it  or  cut  it  at  his  pleasure,  but  to  al- 
low it  to  grow  long.  But  when  his  vow  of  Nazariteship 
was  terminated,  he  was  never  to  take  that  hair,  which 
was  the  Lord's,  as  though  it  were  his  own,  and  devote 
it  to  any  common  purpose.  It  must  all  be  shaved  off 
and  burned  beside  the  altar,  for  it  is  wholly  the  Lord's. 
Do  we  not  need  to  remind  ourselves  of  this  great  truth  ? 
Perhaps  we  consecrate  ourselves  to  the  Lord  for  some 
special  service  ;  and  He  puts  a  bar  in  the  way,  and  de- 
fers and  delays  our  rendering  Him  this  service  ;  and  is 
there  not  a  danger  that  we  may,  as  time  goes  on,  recall 
the  gift,  and  take,  as  it  were,  the  sacrifice  from  off  the 
altar  ?  We  should  rather  pray  :  "  Bind  the  sacrifice,  O 
Lord,  with  cords  to  the  horns  of  the  altar";  that  once 
given  it  may  never  be  recalled.  We  had  a  beautiful 
illustration  of  this  in  the  history  of  our  Mission.  A 
young  lady,  of  a  wealthy  family,  at  the  age  of  twenty 
dedicated  herself  to  missionary  service.  She  thought 
the  Lord  would  soon  open  her  way  to  the  mission  field. 
She  had  an  older  sister,  who  seemed  sufficient  for  home 
duties,  and  who  felt  no  such  call  ;  and  so  at  the  age  of 
twenty  she  looked  forward  to  the  mission  field  as  her 
sphere  of  service.  God  accepted  her  offer,  but  deferred 
the  opening  of  the  door.    Her  elder  sister  married  ;  her 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  JJ 

parents  became  invalids  ;  and  years  passed  on,  and  this 
loving  daughter  never  gave  them  to  feel  that  they  were 
in  the  way,  on  the  one  hand,  and  yet  never  recalled  the 
gift  she  had  given  to  the  Lord  for  missionary  service  on 
the  other.  Five  years  passed  along,  and  she  felt  :  "  If  I 
am  delayed  much  longer,  the  acquisition  of  the  language 
will  become  more  difficult."  But  we  waited  God's  time. 
Ten  years — twenty  years — thirty  years  passed  away  ere 
the  Lord  set  her  free.  But  the  vow  of  twenty  was  as 
bright  in  her  mind  at  fifty  as  it  had  been  when  first 
offered.  Within  three  weeks  of  the  funeral  of  her  sur- 
viving parent  she  wrote  to  our  Mission-House  in  London 
intimating  her  desire  to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  days 
in  missionary  service  in  China,  stating  that  she  had  pri- 
vate means,  and  would  not  need  to  be  a  burden  on  the 
funds  of  the  Mission,  and  therefore  felt  the  more  free  to 
fulfil  her  early  consecration.  I  met  her  in  London  a 
short  time  ago,  and  she  said  :  "  I  am  home  after  twelve 
years'  service  for  my  first  furlough,  and  hope  to  be  in- 
vigorated, that  I  may  soon  be  able  to  return  to  China 
again."  I  don't  know  whether  she  will  ever  be  strong 
enough  to  return  to  China,  but  I  do  know  that  her  life 
there  has  been  an  immense  blessing. 

Turning  again  to  our  chapter,  we  find  that  God  pro- 
hibits a  separated  one  from  going  near  to  any  dead 
body.  If  time  permitted  we  might  dwell  at  length  on 
this  important  prohibition  ;  but  we  must  briefly  say 
here  that  all  dead  works,  however  good  or  precious  they 
may  seem  to  be  in  themselves,  are  not  the  things  for  a 
fully  consecrated  man  to  take  part  in  or  to  have  fellow- 
ship with.  The  outcome  of  spiritual  life,  and  that  alone, 
is  that  in  which  one  fully  consecrated  to  God  must  en- 
gage. He  must  be  distinctly  separated  from  the  dead 
world,  and  from  all  spiritual  death.    May  I  here  remark, 


yS  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

however,  on  the  important  truth  taught  us  in  connec- 
tion with  the  accidental  or  unavoidable  contact  with 
death  ?  It  was  not  considered  undefiling  because  it  was 
accidental,  or  even  unavoidable.  If  a  man  came  in  con- 
tact with  death,  he  could  only  be  cleansed  from  that 
contact  by  sacrifice.  There  is,  perhaps,  a  danger  in 
some  quarters  at  the  present  day  of  the  thought  being 
accepted  that  certain  things  are  right  if  we  don't  feel 
them  to  be  wrong — that  certain  things  are  right  if  we 
are,  so  to  speak,  unavoidably  thrown  in  contact  with 
them.  We  must  ever  bear  in  mind  that  we  have  in  God's 
will,  as  revealed  in  the  Scripture,  an  absolute  standard 
of  right  and  wrong  ;  and  no  ignorance  on  our  part, 
or  want  of  opportunity  on  our  part,  can  make  the 
wrong  to  be  right.  If  a  person  does  that  which  is  con- 
trary to  God's  revealed  will  in  ignorance,  it  may  not 
at  the  time  hinder  communion  ;  but  as  soon  as  it  is 
revealed  to  him  that  the  thing  done  is  contrary  to  God's 
will,  it  must  be  confessed,  not  as  a  misfortune,  but  as  a 
sin,  and  the  atoning  blood  must  be  upon  it  before  com- 
munion can  be  fully  and  satisfactorily  re-established. 
And  may  I  in  this  connection  refer  to  the  further  truth 
that  when  the  vow  of  the  Nazarite  was  fulfilled,  and 
when  nothing  had  been  ritually  neglected,  the  Nazarite 
was  not  to  think  he  could  stand  without  sacrifice  in  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  merit  of  his  sacrifice  ?  There 
was  the  sin  of  his  holy  things  that  needed  atonement. 
We  are  sinful  creatures,  and  our  holiest  service  can  only 
be  accepted  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  When  we 
walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light,  and  are  having 
unbroken  fellowship  with  God,  and  God  with  us,  it  is 
because  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  is  cleansing 
us  from  all  sin.  No  holy  service  is  a  ground  of  accept- 
ance with  God.     Christ  alone  is  that  ground.     On  the 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  ^9 

Other  hand,  the  fact  that  our  holiest  things  need  to  be 
accepted  through  Christ  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
neglect  to  be  holy.  Though  sinful  creatures,  we  must 
not  be  sinning  creatures — a  very  different  thing  indeed. 
The  Nazarite  was  to  fulfil  his  vow,  and  then  offer  the 
requisite  sacrifices  ;  and  he  and  his  service  were  accepted 
of  God. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  beautiful  three-fold  blessing, 
in  which  we,  as  believers  in  the  light  of  the  present  dis- 
pensation, recognize  distinctly  the  blessing  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  Before  considering  that 
more  fully,  however,  let  us  inquire  what  is  the  root-idea 
of  blessing.  God  blesses  His  people  with  peace,  with 
plenty,  and  with  other  rich  gifts  ;  but  the  peace  and  the 
plenty  are  not  the  gifts.  We  bless  God  with  thanksgiv- 
ing and  praise,  but  the  thanksgiving  and  praise  are  not 
the  blessing.  The  blessing  is  that  deep  going  out  of 
heart  toward  the  object  of  our  affections  which  leads 
on  the  one  hand  to  gift  and  on  the  other  hand  to  grate- 
ful thanks  and  praise.  We  may  illustrate  this  from  a 
frequent  earthly  happening.  A  mother  opens  the  door 
of  her  house,  and  at  once  her  little  child  turns  toward 
her  with  a  bright  and  glad  face,  and  two  little  feet  begin 
to  run  across  the  room,  and  two  little  arms  are  stretched 
out  to  meet  and  welcome  the  returning  mother.  But  is 
that  all  ?  Are  not  two  stronger  feet  hastening  with 
wider  steps  to  meet  the  little  one  ? — are  not  two  stronger 
arms  stretched  out  to  welcome  the  little  one  ? — and  soon 
both  are  clasped  in  one  loving  embrace,  the  mother's 
arms  holding  up  the  child,  and  clasping  her  to  her 
bosom,  the  little  one's  arms  around  the  mother's  neck  in 
fond  affection.  And  both  hearts  are  equally  full.  The 
little  one's  heart  i*  just  as  glad  as  it  is  capable  of  being 
glad,  and  the  mother's  heart  is  just  as  full  as  her  heart 


So  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NOKTMFIELD. 

can  be  filled.  But  whose  heart  is  the  larger?  The  mo- 
ther has  the  larger  share  of  gladness,  because  she  is 
capable  of  more  gladness  than  her  child.  The  mother 
is  blessing  her  child,  and  the  child  is  blessing  the  mother. 
So  when  a  child  of  God  blesses  God,  the  heart  of  the 
child  is  filled  with  joy,  and  the  heart  of  the  Father  is  also 
filled  with  joy  ;  and  His  great  infinite  heart  is  capable 
of  more  gladness  than  ours.  This  is  true  in  the  case  of 
the  Saviour,  the  Bridegroom  of  His  people  ;  and  it  is  a 
joy  to  feel  that  day  by  day  we  may  make  the  Man  of  Sor- 
rows the  Man  of  Joys,  by  loving  sympathy  and  holy 
service  in  accordance  with  His  will. 

With  this  deeper  thought  of  blessing  in  our  minds, 
let  us  look  at  the  three-fold  blessing  of  verses  24  to  26. 
"  Jehovah,  the  Father,  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee."  What 
is  more  natural — what  is  more  proper  than  that  that 
great  fatherly  heart  yearning  in  love  over  his  child 
should  be  the  keeper  of  that  child  ?  Some  of  us  have 
tried  to  keep  ourselves  ;  but  we  have  found  by  expe- 
rience that  the  self-kept  child  is  a  badly-kept  child — 
that  the  self-kept  life  is  a  badly-kept  life,  is  an  unsatis- 
factory life.  But  it  is  not  so  with  regard  to  heart  or 
life  committed  to  the  fatherly  keeping  of  Him  who  is 
prepared  to  accept  and  to  care  for  that  which  we  commit 
to  His  care.  Have  we  not,  beloved  friends,  failed  to 
enter  into  the  deep  spirit  of  this  first  of  blessings  : 
"  Jehovah,  the  Father,  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee  "  ?  Oh, 
how  much  of  care  and  worry,  how  much  of  failure,  how 
much  of  sin,  has  been  the  outcome  of  this  forgetfulness  ! 
Imagine  a  beloved  child  resting  on  her  mother's  lap, 
and  as  the  mother  looks  fondly  down  upon  her  darling, 
instead  of  seeing  the  reflection  of  her  love  in  the  happi- 
ness of  her  child,  she  sees  the  child  distressed,  and  the 
eyes  filling  with  tears,  and  the  large  drops  beginning  to 


CONSECRATION    AND    BLESSING.  8l 

flow.  The  mother  says  :  "  What  is  troubling  my  dar- 
ling child?"  The  little  one  replies:  "O  mamma;  I 
am  growing  so  fast.  1  can't  help  it,  and  I  don't  know 
what  to  do.  I  have  been  trying  to  save  up  my  pennies. 
I  haven't  bought  any  sweets  or  a  doll  or  anything  for  a 
long  time  ;  but  I  am  growing  so  fast  I  sha'n't  be  able 
to  wear  this  little  frock  much  longer,  and  I  sha'n't  have 
enough  to  buy  another."  How  foolish  and  unnecessary 
would  be  the  troubles  of  such  a  child  !  Would  it  please 
the  mother  that  the  child  didn't  trust  her  to  provide 
the  new  frock  when  it  was  needed  ?  And  when  the 
new  frock  was  needed,  would  it  be  bought  in  whole  or 
in  part  by  the  saved  pennies  ?  All  the  care  and  all  the 
worry  were  unnecessary  and  unhelpful,  for  the  mother 
cares  for  her  child.  And  can  we  know  our  privilege  of 
"  casting  all  our  care  upon  Him,  for  He  careth  for  us," 
and  continue  to  be  careful  and  worried  about  many 
things  ?  Surely  if  we  do,  it  shows  our  failure  to  enter 
into  this  first  of  blessings  :  "  Jehovah,  the  Father,  bless 
thee,  and  keep  thee."  And  not  less  precious  is  the  sec- 
ond blessing  :  "  Jehovah,  the  Son — the  Bridegroom  of 
His  people — make  His  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be 
gracious  unto  thee."  If  He,  the  great  Bridegroom  of 
the  soul,  has  His  right  place  in  the  heart,  His  presence 
is  love.  The  light  of  His  countenance  is  sufficient  to 
satisfy  our  deepest  longings — to  meet  and  supply  our 
every  need.  And  there  need  be  no  hiding  of  His 
countenance  from  us.  The  blessing  is  :  "  Jehovah,  the 
Son,  make  His  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious 
unto  thee."  What  do  we  not  possess  in  the  love  of  this 
Bridegroom  !  Unlike  the  earthly  relationship,  which 
circumstances  may  interfere  with  or  interrupt,  we  have 
His  word  :  "  I  will  never  leave  thee — will  never  fail 
thee — will  never  forsake  thee."     And  while  ever  present 


82  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHEIELD. 

with  His  aid,  it  is  not  so  much  His  aid  as  His  gracious 
presence — His  smile — His  benediction — that  is  the  joy 
of  Christian  life  and  the  strength  of  Christian  service. 
But  I  must  pass  on.  The  third  blessing  is  equally  pre- 
cious :  "Jehovah,  the  Spirit,  lift  up  His  countenance 
upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace."  Do  we  always  suf- 
ficiently realize  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 
Do  we  recognize  Him  as  being  as  distinctly  personal  as 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  rejoice  in  His  love  as  well 
as  His  presence  ?  And  do  we  accept  His  great  gift  : 
the  gift  of  peace — peace  that  flows  like  a  river,  widening 
and  deepening  as  it  flows — peace  that  the  world  cannot 
give  or  take  away — peace  that  circumstances  can  never 
mar,  or  break,  or  interrupt — peace  that  passeth  all  un- 
derstanding ;  not  merely  enjoyed,  but  garrisoning  the 
heart  and  keeping  all  surges  of  care  and  worry  and 
unrest  clean  outside  the  battlements  ?  Oh,  beloved 
friends,  what  a  gift  is  this  !  How  little  have  we  accepted 
it  !  How  little  have  we  enjoyed  it !  Instead  of  tell-tale 
faces  telling  the  world  what  a  full  salvation  we  have 
had,  how  often  a  long  face  has  suggested  to  the  world 
that  they  had  better  take  their  fill  of  happiness  first 
before  they  leave  it  behind  by  becoming  Christians. 
May  God  make  us  more  faithful  witnesses  for  Him,  and 
give  us  so  to  live  winning  lives  that  others  will  be  al- 
lured to  desire  the  same  blessings  we  enjoy ! 

And  now  we  have  briefly  considered  the  question  of 
consecration,  and  its  necessary  following  of  blessing. 
But  this  blessing  is  only  the  prelude  to  the  longest 
chapter  in  the  Bible  ;  and  God's  blessing  is  just  the 
prelude  to  a  service  of  love  and  the  service  of  eternity. 
We  at  once  see  the  outcome  of  the  blessing  in  the  offer- 
ings of  the  people  of  God.  Will  it  not  be  helpful  to  us- 
if  we  realize  more  of  the  privilege  we  have  as  the  chil- 


CONSECRATION   AND   BLESSING.  83 

dren  of  God,  if  engaged  in  His  service  ?  There  is  never 
any  lack  of  resources  for  the  work  of  God.  There  was 
promised  to  Solomon  for  the  building  of  the  earthly 
sanctuary  a  beautiful  combination  :  willing,  skilful  men 
for  every  department  of  service.  Some  men  are  willing 
enough,  but  far  from  skilful  in  their  work.  Others, 
again,  who  have  the  skill  do  not  always  possess  the  will. 
But  to  Solomon  there  was  promised  every  skilful  man 
for  every  department  of  service  ;  and  he  was  further 
told  that  the  princes  and  all  the  people  would  be 
wholly  at  his  commandment.  When  we  need  men  or 
means  for  God's  service,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
they  are  not  promised  to  us^  but  they  are  to  our  royal 
Master  ;  and  we  should  go  to  Him  with  confidence  for 
those  things  which  are  needful  for  the  department  of 
service  into  which  He  calls  us  to  enter.  We  are  called 
"children"  of  a  rich  Father.  His  resources  are  infinite  ; 
and  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  keep  on  the  right  side  of  our 
Father  to  get  from  Him  whatever  is  needed.  I  am  de- 
lighted but  not  surprised  at  what  I  see  here  at  North- 
field.  That  our  dear  friend,  Mr.  Moody,  has  been  sup- 
plied by  God  with  all  that  has  been  needful  for  the 
erection  of  these  beautiful  buildings,  and  the  mainten- 
ance of  these  institutions,  is  not  at  all  surprising.  Only 
let  us  take  the  Divine  path  of  consecration  and  bless- 
ing, and  we  shall  find  no  lack  of  resources  for  carrying 
on  God's  work.  May  I  draw  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  so  soon  as  the  tabernacle,  as  mentioned  in  verse  i, 
had  been  anointed  and  sanctified,  "  with  all  the  instru- 
ments thereof,  both  the  altar  and  all  the  vessels  thereof," 
then  the  princes  of  Israel  at  once  freely  and  spontane- 
ously offered  their  offerings.  Do  not  be  so  concerned 
about  getting  the  means  to  carry  on  the  work,  as  about 
being  sure  that  the  work  is  after  the  Lord's  pattern,  and 


84  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

that  the  work  and  workers  are  sanctified  and  anointed 
ones.  Given  this  preparation,  and  the -means  will  not 
be  lacking.  To  look  farther  back,  remember  that  when 
the  tabernacle  itself  had  to  be  made,  Moses  was  brought 
into  difficulty — not  from  the  lack  of  material,  but  from 
its  superabundance  ;  and  in  his  perplexity  he  had  to 
send  a  proclamation  through  the  camp  to  the  people 
forbidding  them  to  bring  any  more — a  condition  that 
we  don't  hear  very  much  of  in  ordinary  church  work 
and  church  life  to-day.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission  we  had  the  nearest  approach  that 
we  have  had  to  this  difficulty  in  the  matter  of  funds  for 
the  outfit  and  support  of  the  first  large  party  we  sent  out. 
A  party  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  fully  consecrated  men 
and  women  had  been  selected  and  tested.  That  they 
were  soul-winners  had  been  proved  in  the  East  End  of 
London.  They  were  prepared  to  go  out  with  no  other 
guarantee  of  support  than  that  which  they  carried  with- 
in the  covers  of  their  own  pocket  Bibles — for  they  be- 
lieved the  Word  of  God.  And  now  came  the  question  : 
"  How  are  the  means  to  be  provided  for  their  going 
forth  ? "  It  was  estimated  that  ^1,500— possibly  ;^i,8oo 
or  ;^2,ooo — might  be  needed  ;  for  we  didn't  know  what 
we  should  have  to  pay  for  passage-money.  The  journey 
to  China  was  then  along  one — of  some  months'  duration, 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  I  had  already  sent 
out  five  or  six  to  China,  and  was  in  receipt  of  small 
sums  of  money  for  their  support  as  free-will  offerings 
through  the  post.  From  the  ist  of  January  to  the  6th 
of  February,  1866,  I  received  about  ;^i7i;  but  of  course 
a  much  larger  sum  was  needed  if  this  large  party  was 
to  go  out.  I  therefore  wrote  a  little  pamphlet,  intending 
to  circulate  it  among  my  friends,  stating  that  this  party 
was  prepared  to  go,  that  such  sums  of  money  would  be 


CONSECRATION  AND   BLESSING.  85 

required,  and  that  free-will  offerings  sent  spontaneously 
through  the  post  would  be  thankfully  accepted.  On 
the  day  after  I  sent  my  manuscript  to  the  printer  I 
called  a  daily  prayer-meeting,  and  from  12  to  i  o'clock 
every  day  we  met  to  ask  from  God  this  money.  Through  a 
fire  in  the  press  the  bringing  out  of  the  pamphlet  was  de- 
layed, and  the  printed  pamphlets  reached  me  on  the  12th 
of  March.  On  that  day  I  added  up  my  Mission  cash-book 
to  tell  my  friends  what  God  had  done  in  answer  to 
prayer  alone.  Before  our  prayer-meeting  a  month  and 
six  days  had  brought  in  ;£"i7i  or  thereabouts.  The  sec- 
ond month  and  six  days — from  February  6th  to  March 
12th — I  had  received  through  the  post  ;^i,774  15s.  iid. 
My  friend,  Mr.  Grattan  Guinness,  in  Ireland,  had  re- 
ceived £,200  ;  making  a  total  of  ;^i,974  15s.  iid.,  before 
the  pamphlets  were  ready  for  circulation.  Now,  what 
was  one  to  do  ?  I  didn't  want  to  waste  the  pamphlets  ; 
yet  money  kept  coming  in,  and  we  soon  had  more  than 
was  needful  according  to  our  own  estimate,  and  I 
couldn't  send  out  the  pamphlets  stating  that  money 
was  needed  which  was  already  in  hand.  A  colored  leaf 
was  inserted  into  each  one,  stating  that  the  money  re- 
quired had  already  been  received  in  answer  to  prayer  ; 
that  no  further  gifts  for  this  object  should  be  sent ;  but 
that  if  any  wished  to  assist  in  the  permanent  support  of 
the  work,  a  friend  who  lived  thirty-eight  miles  from 
London,  and  two  or  three  from  the  nearest  village  post- 
office,  was  willing  to  receive  any  contributions  through 
the  post,  and  once  a  month  to  remit  the  aggregate  sum 
to  us  in  China.  This  was  the  simple  organization  of  the 
Mission  when  commenced  twenty-two  years  ago.  God 
has  not  disappointed  the  trust  which  was  placed  in  Him. 
There  are  now  over  two  hundred  and  ninety  workers, 
besides  over  a  hundred  native  helpers  ;  and  still  it  re. 


86  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

mains  as  true  as  ever  that  there  is  no  want  to  those  who 
fear  Him. 

Just  a  word  in  conclusion  on  the  first  offering  of  the 
princes  :  six  covered  wagons  and  twelve  oxen.  Those 
of  us  who  have  been  in  India  or  in  China,  and  have  rid- 
den in  those  rude  bullock  wagons,  know  very  well  what 
they  were.  In  riding  over  the  rough  roads  of  China  in 
such  a  cart  I  have  more  than  once  bound  a  feather  pil- 
low around  my  head  ;  for  the  jolting  and  the  knocking 
about  as  one  wheel  falls  into  a  rut  of  a  foot  or  more 
deep,  to  be  followed  by  the  other  wheel  in  a  few  mo- 
ments getting  into  a  similar  rut,  and  throwing  you  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  wagon,  required  it.  Yet,  rude 
as  these  wagons  were,  the  Word  of  God  was  :  "  Take  it  of 
them,  and  use  those  wagons  for  the  service  of  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation."  God  accepts  what  His 
people  are  able  and  willing  to  give,  and  puts  to  high 
and  holy  uses  that  which  we  put  in  His  hands  for  His 
service. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE     BOOK     OF     AMOS. 

Address  by  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper,  of  Yale  University— The  Herdman 
of  Tekoa  and  his  Message — An  Adroit  Introduction — First  Ser- 
mon—Profligacy of  Israel — Dire  Punishment  Threatened — God's 
Forbearance— Warnings  Ignored— The  Limit  of  Mercy  Overpast 
— Second  Sermon — Further  Upbraiding — Awful  Severity  of  the 
Coming  Retribution — A  Series  of  Visions — Eventual  Restoration 
to  Favor. 

I  AM  going  to  ask  you  to  join  me  in  a  study  of  the 
book  of  Amos.  I  would  like  to  get  before  us  the  book 
of  Amos  as  a  book,  so  that  hereafter  in  reading  this 
prophecy  we  may  read  the  verses  with  reference  to  the 
object  of  this  book.  And  a  word  of  introduction,  if 
you  please,  about  prophecy  :  one  or  two  general  princi- 
ples upon  which  we  must  build.  You  believe  and  I  be- 
lieve that  a  prophet  of  God  was  not  a  prophet  merely 
to  man,  but  that  he  was  a  Divinely  appointed  messen- 
ger sent  to  do  a  Divinely  appointed  work.  I  think  v.^e 
will  all  agree,  further,  that  each  prophet  had  his  own 
work  to  do.  Each  prophet  had  his  particular  work. 
We  all  know  the  work  of  Isaiah  ;  I  needn't  explain  it. 
And  we  know  that  the  love  of  God  is  nowhere  presented 
more  forcibly  or  more  vividly  than  by  the  prophet 
Hosea,  who  was  sent  to  convey  that  message.  Not  even 
the  New  Testament  teaches  more  clearly  or  more  dis- 
tinctly the  love  of  God  than  does  the  prophecy  of  Hosea. 

(87) 


88    ,         COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

And  so  each  prophet  had  his  particular  work  to  do. 
Our  one  thought  and  purpose  will  be  to  find  out  the 
particular  work  of  the  prophet  Amos.  And  then,  again, 
we  will  all  agree  that  a  prof)het — whatever  may  have 
been  the  deeper  meaning  of  his  words— whatever  may- 
have  been  their  meaning  to  future  generations — was  a 
man  of  his  time.  His  words  had  a  meaning  there  and 
then,  whatever  the  meaning  they  had  to  future  times. 
A  prophet  was  a  preacher  of  his  times,  and  his  message 
was  intended  for  the  people  whom  he  addressed.  I  think 
we  too  often  lose  sight  of  this  fact.  We  have  a  feeling 
that  the  prophecies  were  written  exclusively  for  us. 
Now,  this  is  right  in  one  sense  :  they  were  written  for 
us  ;  but  yet  not  exclusively.  The  prophecies  were  writ, 
ten  for  the  people  in  whose  times  they  were  written  and 
declared.  They  had  a  meaning  then  which  they  don't 
mean  now  ;  and  the  meaning  they  have  for  us  to-day 
depends  largely  upon  the  meaning  which  they  had  in 
their  primary  purpose. 

Now,  let  us  begin  together.  "Words  concerning 
Israel."  This  is  a  prophecy  concerning  the  Israelitish 
nation — concerning  Israel  as  distinct  from  Judah.  Only 
once  or  twice,  perhaps,  the  prophet  includes  Judah  in 
what  he  says.  These  are  words  uttered  directly  for  the 
inhabitants  of  the  northern  kingdom.  They  had  their 
first  reference  to  those  people.  "  The  words  of  Amos,, 
who  was  among  the  herdmen  of  Tekoa."  Amos  was  not 
a  royal  prophet,  as  was  Isaiah,  Amos  was  one  of  the 
most  uncultured  of  the  prophets — the  most  uncultured. 
As  we  read  Amos's  prophecy  in  the  original  to-day,  w^e 
see  his  mistakes  of  grammar  and  syntax.  We  see  he 
did  not  write  the  language  which  Isaiah  wrote.  His 
Hebrew  is  very  different  from  the  Hebrew  of  Isaiah. 
Amos  was  an  uneducated  man,  he  tells  us  farther  on  ; 


THE   BOOK   OF  AMOS.  89 

but  he  was  a  man  that  had  a  message  to  deliver,  and  he 
was  not  prevented  from  delivering  that  message  by  the 
faot  that  he  was  without  education.  "Which  he  saw 
concerning  Israel  in  the  days  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah, 
and  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Joash  king  of 
Israel."  This  was  a  time  of  great  political  prosperity, 
greater  even  than  during  the  reign  of  Solomon.  At  no 
period  in  her  whole  history  did  Israel  reach  the  height 
of  prosperity  that  she  reached  at  this  time.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  there  was  no  time  in  her  whole  history  in 
which  she  descended  so  low  morally.  This  prophet  and 
the  other  prophets  of  the  time  tell  us  of  the  great  sin — 
the  licentiousness  and  the  debaucheries — which  pre- 
vailed. Keep  in  mind  this  fact,  that  it  is  at  this  time,  when 
Jeroboam  is  strong  in  his  own  strength,  that  Amos 
speaks.  He  adds  :  "  Two  years  before  the  earthquake." 
Just  what  the  reference  is  here  is  perhaps  doubtful. 
Some  think  the  earthquake  is  mentioned  merely  as  a 
date — as  a  help  in  fixing  the  particular  time  of  the  say- 
ing. There  are  others,  however,  who  think  the  passage 
means  that  as  the  prophecy  had  been  delivered  before 
the  time  of  the  earthquake,  and  as  this  prophecy  was  a 
prophecy  of  destruction  from  beginning  to  end,  the 
prophet  would  have  the  people  to  understand  that  the 
earthquake  was  in  consequence  of,  or  in  connection  with, 
the  destruction  promised  in  his  prophecy.  This,  then, 
is  our  title-page.  Call  it  the  title-page  of  the  book — ^^and 
there  is  no  book  concerning  which  there  is  less  doubt 
than  the  book  of  Amos. 

The  second  verse  gives  us  the  text,  and  it  is  a  quoted 
text.  Amos  does  as  ministers  do  to-day.  He  takes  a 
text,  and  quotes  from  his  predecessor  Joel.  Joel  iii.  16  ; 
"  The  Lord  also  shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  utter  His 
voice  from  Jerusalem."     The  latter  part  of   the  verse 


90  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

Amos  puts  in  his  own  language.  He  is  a  herdman — a 
man  from  the  people — a  countryman.  Imagine  a  coun- 
tryman coming  into  a  great  city  to-day,  and  preaching 
— dressed  as  a  countryman,  talking  like  a  countryman — 
and  you  have  a  picture  of  Amos  as  he  appeared.  Listen 
to  his  text :  "The  Lord  will  roar."  "Roar"  means  de- 
struction. "The  Lord  will  send  destruction  out  of 
Zion  " — the  headquarters  of  the  theocracy  ;  "  and  He 
will  utter  His  voice  from  Jerusalem  " — a  repetition  of 
the  same  thought.  And  then  the  herdman  prophet  adds  : 
"And  the  pastures  of  the  shepherds  shall  mourn,  and 
the  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither."  He  draws  his  figures, 
you  see,  from  his  life.  Being  a  herdman,  he  speaks  of 
the  pastures.  "  The  pastures  of  the  shepherds  shall 
mourn,  and  the  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither — all  Pales- 
tine shall  be  laid  waste."  This  is  his  text.  The  whole 
book  of  Amos  rests  on  this  verse.  It  is  intended  to  be 
an  explanation  of  this  verse.  What  have  you  got,  then  ? 
The  title-page  :  "  Words  concerning  Israel,  by  one  Amos 
— not  a  professor  in  some  theological  seminary,  but  the 
herdman  Amos.  Such  and  such  a  date,  in  such  and 
such  circumstances."  As  clear  a  title-page  as  that  of 
any  book  that  is  published  to-day.  Next  you  have  the 
text :  "  The  Lord  shall  roar  from  Zion,  and  utter  His 
voice  from  Jerusalem;  and  the  pastures  of  the  shep- 
herds shall  m.ourn,  and  the  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither." 
And  now  we  come  to  the  prophecy.  Remember  that 
Amos  was  from  Judah.  He  got  a  call  to  preach  a  mes- 
sage ;  but  it  wasn't  given  him  to  preach  to  his  own  peo- 
ple— to  the  people  of  the  southern  kingdom.  He  was 
sent  by  God  to  the  northern  nation  of  Israel.  Keep 
that  fact  in  mind  also.  Amos  has  left  his  home,  has 
come  to  the  headquarters  of  the  king  of  the  northern 
kingdom,  and  is  now  casting  about  for  some  way  of 


THE   BOOK   OF   AMOS-  9I 

delivering  his  message.  How  shall  he  convey  this  mes- 
sage so  that  it  will  tell  ?  That  was  the  great  point  in 
those  days,  as  that  is  the  great  point  to-day.  How  can 
he  have  it  put  forth  so  that  it  will  count — or  that  results 
will  count  ?  And  that  thing  troubles  Amos,  as  it  troubles 
many  a  minister  to-day.  Amos  has  come.  You  can 
imagine  you  see  him  on  the  street-corner,  with  a  crowd 
of  people  around  him.  As  a  countryman,  you  see,  he 
would  attract  attention  at  once.  His  speech,  his  dress, 
the  fact  that  he  w^as  from  Judah,  would  attract  atten- 
tion ;  and  it  doesn't  take  him  long  to  draw  a  crov/d. 
"  For  three  transgressions  of  Damascus,  and  for  four,  I 
will  not  turn  away  the  punishment  thereof  ;  because 
they  have  threshed  Gilead  with  threshing  instruments 
of  iron  :  I  will  send  a  fire  into  the  house  of  Hazael, 
which  shall  devour  the  palaces  of  Ben-hadad.  I  will 
break  also  the  bar  of  Damascus,  and  cut  off  the  in- 
habitant from  the  plain  of  Aven,  and  him  that  holdeth 
the  sceptre  from  the  house  of  Eden  :  and  the  people  of 
Syria  shall  go  into  captivity  unto  Kir,  saith  the  Lord." 
What  had  that  to  do  with  Israel  ?  The  prophet  stand- 
ing before  this  crowd  says  :  "  O  Israel,  God  tells  me 
that  Damascus — Syria — your  neighbor  right  here  in  the 
north — is  to  be  destroyed  for  her  sins."  There  had  been 
long  war  between  Damascus  and  Syria.  There  was 
deep  hatred  between  them.  What  would  be  the  recep- 
.^ion  of  this  message  ?  Every  Israelite  would  shout 
"Amen!"  He  goes  on:  "  I  will  punish  Gaza,  because 
they  carried  away  captive  the  whole  captivity.  I  will 
cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  Ashdod,  and  him  that  hold- 
eth the  sceptre  from  Ashkelon  ;  and  I  will  turn  mine 
hand  against  Ekron:  and  the  remnant  of  the  Philistines 
shall  perish."  As  he  thus  describes  the  punishment  that 
comes  upon  the  Philistines — those  Philistines  by  whom 


92  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

they  had  been  troubled  from  the  very  time  they  came 
into  the  land — every  Israelite  would  shout,  "Amen  ! 
You  are  a  man  of  the  right  color."  But  he  doesn't  stop 
yet.  "  For  three  transgressions  of  Tyre,  and  for  four, 
I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment  thereof  ;  because 
they  delivered  up  the  whole  captivity  to  Edom,  and  re- 
membered not  the  brotherly  covenant."  There  had 
been  a  covenant  between  Tyre  and  Israel  ;  but  Tyre 
had  forgotten  it,  and  the  Phoenicians  had  taken  Israel- 
itish  captives,  and  sold  them  into  captivity.  For  this 
crime  Tyre  was  to  be  punished.  "  I  will  send  a  fire 
upon  Tyre,  and  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof."  The 
same  idea  :  "  O  Israel,  God  has  sent  me  to  tell  you 
that  He  is  going  to  destroy  your  enemies."  Every 
Israelite  would  look  with  favor  upon  such  a  message 
as  that.  Notice — three  nations  :  Damascus,  Philistia, 
Phoenicia. 

Now,  the  fourth  is  Edom.  "  Because  he  did  pursue 
his  brother  with  the  sword,  and  did  cast  off  all  pity,  and 
his  anger  did  tear-  perpetually,  and  he  kept  his  wrath 
forever — I  will  send  a  fire  upon  Teman,  which  shall  de- 
vour the  palaces  of  Bozrah."  "  Edom "  signified  the 
descendants  of  Esau.  Esau  and  Jacob  were  brothers. 
The  Edomites  were  cousins  to  the  Israelites,  and  yet 
there  had  been  all  this  trouble  between  them.  Again 
the  Israelites  would  say  "Amen!"  Still  further,  the 
prophet  takes  up  the  children  of  Ammon,  and  then  he 
takes  up  Moab.  You  remember,  the  Moabites  and  the 
Ammonites  were  descendants  of  Lot,  and  Lot  was  the 
nephew  of  Abraham.  The  first  three  were  outside 
nations  :  Damascus,  Philistia,  and  Tyre.  The  next 
three  were  related  nations — related  to  each  other  and  to 
Israel  :  Edom,  Ammon,  and  Moab.  Although  related, 
there  had  been  such  contention  and  strife  between  them 


THE   BOOK   OF   AMOS.  93 

that  they  were  now  to  be  destroyed.  Amos  is  coming 
down  closer  and  closer. 

Next  he  says  :  ''  For  three  transgressions  of  Judah — 
my  own  country."  Everybody  knew  he  was  a  Jew. 
"  For  three  transgressions  of  Judah,  and  for  four,  I  will 
not  turn  away  the  punishment  thereof ;  because  they 
have  despised  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  have  not  kept 
His  commandments,  and  their  lies  caused  them  to  err, 
after  the  which  their  fathers  have  walked  :  But  I  will 
send  a  fire  upon  Judah,  and  it  shall  devour  the  palaces 
of  Jerusalem."  Although  we  know  that  there  were 
times  when  a  sort  of  good-fellowship  existed  between 
Israel  on  the  north  and  Judah  on  the  south,  yet  from 
the  time  of  the  disruption  of  the  original  kingdom  there 
was  always  a  feeling  of  enmity  and  jealousy  between  the 
two  nations.  As  Amos  delivers  this  message  we  can 
imagine  we  hear  the  Israelites  cheering.  "  The  Lord  is 
going  to  destroy  Judah,  is  He  ?  " 

Now  he  has  got  them  just  where  he  wants  them.  He 
says  :  "  You  think  it  is  a  good  thing  to  destroy  Damas- 
cus, Tyre,  and  even  Judah.  Listen.  I  have  still  another 
word.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  For  three  transgressions 
of  Israel,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punish- 
ment thereof  ;  because  they  sold  the  righteous  for  sil- 
ver, and  the  poor  for  a  pair  of  shoes  ;  that  pant  after  the 
dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head  of  the  poor,  and  turn  aside 
the  way  of  the  meek."  These  were  the  characteristics 
of  the  Israelites  in  that  time.  "  A  m^n  and  his  father 
profane  the  same  maid.  From  the  altar  they  drink  the 
wine  of  such  as  have  been  fined."  The  prophet  has  in- 
troduced himself.  You  see  the  roundabout  way  he  has 
taken,  and  you  see  how  he  has  been  able  to  strike  home. 
We  may  doubt  whether  there  were  any  "  Amens  "  at  the 
end  of  this  passage.     "O  Israel,"  he  says,  "you  are  well 


94  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

enough  satisfied  that  Edom  is  to  be  destroyed — Moab, 
Ammon,  Philistia,  Tyre,  Damascus.  But  you  too,  Israel, 
shall  be  punished.  You  have  been  guilty  of  the  most 
outrageous  crimes.  You  committed  those  crimes  al- 
though I  gave  you  prophets  and  Nazarites.  You  com- 
pelled the  Nazarites  to  break  their  vows,  and  the  proph- 
ets you  would  not  allow  to  prophesy.  Behold,  the 
mighty  shall  not  deliver  himself,  neither  shall  he  stand 
that  handleth  the  bow.  He  that  is  swift  of  foot  shall 
not  deliver  himself,  nor  he  that  rideth  the  horse.  He 
that  is  courageous  among  the  mighty  shall  flee  away 
naked  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord."  Now  every  Israel- 
ite knows  what  Amos  came  for.  His  message  is  deliv- 
ered. Notice  the  way  he  introduced  it.  He  gained  the 
consent  of  the  people  to  every  proposition  till  he  had 
gone  through  seven  propositions  ;  and  then  he  brought 
out  the  eighth  as  his  application. 

Well;  the  prophet  is  introduced,  and  the  3d  and  4th 
chapters  give  us  his  first  sermon.  Will  you  understand 
that  this  is  a  sermon  ?  Will  you  study  it  with  the 
understanding  that  it  is  preached  by  a  preacher — not  in 
a  pulpit,  perhaps,  but  on  the  street-corner,  before 
crowds  of  people  ?  What  is  his  message  ?  "  O  Israel, 
and  the  whole  family  I  brought  up  out  of  Egypt — the 
only  nation  I  have  known  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  ;  I  will  punish  you  for  your  iniquities."  Then  the 
prophet  seems  to  say,  speaking  for  himself  :  "  Don't 
suppose  I  came  from  Judah  to  deliver  this  message  be- 
cause it  is  a  pleasant  task.  I  speak  because  I  must. 
'Can  two  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed?' 
Would  God  through  me  threaten  punishment  if  you  were 
not  ripe  for  it?  'Will  a  lion  roar  in  the  forest  when  he 
hath  no  prey?'  Would  God  roar  forth  in  judgment  if 
you  were  not  prey  right  in  His  hands?     'Will  a  young 


THE   BOOK  OF  AMOS.  9$ 

lion  cry  out  of  his  den  if  he  have  taken  nothing  ? ' 
Would  God  roar  forth  in  judgment  if  you  were  not  in 
His  power  ?  '  Can  a  bird  fall  in  a  snare  upon  the  earth 
where  no  gin  is  for  him  ? '  Can  destruction  take  you 
unless  it  is  for  your  sin  ?  'Shall  a  trumpet  be  blown  in 
the  city,  and  the  people  not  be  afraid  ? '  The  procla- 
mation which  I  make  ought  to  terrify  this  city.  'Shall 
there  be  evil  in  a  city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  ? ' 
The  calamity  which  is  to  burst  upon  this  city  is  from 
Jehovah.  *  Surely  the  Lord  God  will  do  nothing,  but 
He  revealeth  His  secret  unto  His  servants  the  prophets.' 
He  will  not  bring  punishment  and  calamity  without 
having  first  warned  you  through  His  messengers.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  the  warning  shall  be  surely  followed 
by  the  punishment.  '  The  lion  hath  roared,  who  will  not 
fear  ? '  Can  one  fail  to  fear  when  the  lion  roars  ?  '  The 
Lord  God  hath  spoken,  who  can  but  prophesy  ? '  Can 
one  fail  to  prophesy  when  God  has  commanded  him?" 
To  sum  up  the  first  eight  verses  :  *'0  men  of  Israel — 
God's  chosen  people,  and  for  that  reason  to  be  punished 
because  of  your  sins  ;  I  have  a  terrible  message  for  you 
— one  which  I  would  fain  withhold,  but  one  which  I 
must  announce.  I  must  prophesy  what  God  com- 
mands." He  invites  the  inhabitants  of  Philistia  and 
Egypt — the  unrighteous  and  ungodly  nations  around 
about — to  come  and  see  the  tumult  and  the  violence  in 
this  city  of  Samaria.  "Ah,"  he  says,  "an  enemy  comes 
who  will  hurl  down  your  glory,  and  plunder  your  pal- 
aces. There  will  remain  something  perhaps  ;  but  as  a 
shepherd  taketh  out  of  the  mouth  of  a  lion  two  shin- 
bones,  or  a  piece  of  an  ear,  so  shall  it  be  with  the  luxu- 
rious grandees  who  sit  on  costly  couches.  In  the  day  of 
my  visitation,  I  will  destroy  every  altar  in  Bethel.  I 
will  utterly  destroy  every  summer-house — every  palace 


96  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFlELD.  ' 

— everything."  Will  you  sum  that  up  and  condense  it 
a  little  more  ?  "  Let  all  the  outside  and  ungodly  nations 
come  and  see  the  abominations  and  wickedness  of  this 
city,  and  testify  of  them.  Says  the  Lord  God  :  An 
enemy  will  utterly  destroy  all  this  glory.  Every  altar, 
every  palace,  will  be  destroyed." 

He  continues,  in  the  4th  chapter  :  "  Hear  this  word, 
ye  kine  of  Bashan  " — the  voluptuous  women  of  Samaria, 
who  had  committed  every  debauchery.  "God  swears — 
hear  well  His  oath — that  you  shall  be  torn  violently  away 
from  your  present  debaucheries.  You  will  be  led  away 
like  cattle.  You  will  be  carried  out  through  breaches  in 
the  wall  to  a  far-off  country.  Yes,  Israel," — in  the  4th 
verse — "  multiply  your  sins.  Make  your  idolatrous  sacri- 
fices and  tithes  and  free-will  offerings.  That  is  just  like 
you.  I  have  made  every  effort  to  save  you.  Famine 
has  failed  to  draw  you  back  to  Me.  Drought  has  failed 
to  draw  you  back  to  Me  ;  and  don't  think  this  drought 
was  by  chance,  for — don't  you  remember  ? — I  caused  it 
to  rain  upon  one  city,  and  didn't  cause  it  to  rain  upon 
another,  and  two  or  three  cities  staggered  into  one  city 
for  water  and  didn't  get  sufficient.  Then  came  the  de- 
struction of  your  crops,  and  pestilence,  and  the  slaying 
of  your  young  men  in  war,  till  you  couldn't  bear  the 
stench  of  your  camps.  These  things  haven't  brought 
you  back.  Destruction  like  that  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah has  failed  to  bring  you  back.  Therefore,  since  these 
chastisements  have  failed,  I  will  do  this  to  you  :  I  will 
utterly  and  absolutely  destroy  you  as  a  people  ;  and 
since  I  am  to  do  this,  prepare  !  Ah  !  you  smile  ;  and 
you  ask  whose  threat  is  this,  and  who  it  is  that  an- 
nounces this  terrible  thing.  He  that  formed  the  moun- 
tains and  created  the  wind,  and  declareth  unto  man 
what  is   His   thought,  that   maketh  the  morning  dark- 


THE   BOOK   OF  AMOS.  9/ 

ness,  and  walketh  upon  the  heights  of  the  mountains — 
Jehovah,  God  of  hosts,  is  His  name."  This  was  the 
conclusion  of  the  first  sermon.  Will  you  sum  it  all  up  ? 
Imagine  that  you  are  Israel,  and  I  am  Amos.  Let  us 
get  this  thing  before  us  vividly.  "  O  men  of  Israel — 
God's  chosen  people,  and  for  that  reason  to  be  punished 
because  of  your  sins  :  I  have  a  terrible  message  which 
I  must  announce.  It  is  coming.  God  wants  you 
warned.  I,  His  prophet,  must  prophesy  because  He  has 
commanded  me."  And  to  the  outside  and  ungodly  na- 
tions :  "  Come  and  look  into  this  city,  and  see  and 
testify  unto  the  wickedness  and  abominations  that  exist 
here."  Again  to  Israel  :  "  Let  me  tell  you  there  is  com- 
ing an  enemy  that  will  destroy  all  this  glory,  and  leave 
scarcely  a  vestige  of  all  these  haughty  and  sensual 
nobles.  Every  altar,  every  palace,  will  be  destroyed. 
And  not  only  will  men  suffer  ;  women  too — sharers  of 
your  debaucheries  —  will  be  dragged  away  through 
broken  walls  to  a  far-off  country.  Yes,  Israel ;  go  on 
in  your  idolatrous  course.  Every  effort  has  been  made 
to  save  you.  Every  chastisement  has  been  sent — fam- 
ine, drought,  destruction  of  property,  pestilence,  war 
— but  nothing  has  succeeded.  The  utter  destruction  is 
coming  —  the  destruction  —  the  absolute  destruction. 
Thus  saith  the  Almighty  God." 

The  second  sermon  of  Amos  is  contained  in  the  5th 
and  6th  chapters.  He  begins  :  "  Hear  ye  this  word 
which  I  take  up  against  you,  even  a  lamentation,  O 
house  of  Israel.  The  virgin  of  Israel  is  fallen,  never 
more  to  rise.  But  a  tenth  is  left  of  all  the  armies  of 
Israel."  This  is  his  first  statement.  And  then  he  mor- 
alizes :  "  This  is  indeed  terrible  ;  but  you  deserve  to  be 
destroyed,  for  you  have  done  exactly  the  opposite  of 
what  God  commanded  you  to  do."     In  the  4th  verse  : 


98  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

"  Seek  Me.  Seek  not  Bethel,  or  Gilgal,  or  Beersheba. 
Seek  Me,  lest  I  break  out  like  fire,  and  there  be  none  to 
quench  it.  Ye  that  turn  judgment  to  wormwood,  and 
leave  off  righteousness  in  the  earth  ;  seek  God  who 
curneth  morning  into  darkness  —  who  calleth  for  the 
waters  of  the  sea,  and  poureth  them  out  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth.  The  Lord  is  destruction  upon  the  strong. 
What  have  you  done  ?  You  hate  your  teachers  ;  you 
abhor  those  who  speak  uprightly  ;  you  trample  upon 
the  poor.  You  shall  be  punished.  Your  sins  are  many. 
You  take  bribes  ;  you  turn  aside  the  needy."  In  the 
13th  verse  he  begins  to  specialize  certain  classes  of 
people  in  his  audience.  To  the  first  class  he  says  :  "  If 
there  are  any  of  you  who  would  escape  this  judgment,  I 
will  tell  you  how  to  do  it.  Seek  God.  Hate  the  evil, 
and  love  the  good  ;  establish  judgment ;  and  it  may  be 
that  God  will  be  gracious  to  the  remnant.  For  the  time 
is  coming  when  there  will  be  great  mourning — when 
there  shall  be  in  all  the  roads  and  streets  men  crying, 
Alas  !  Alas  !  and  in  all  the  vineyards  wailing."  Then 
there  is  another  class  :  those  who  think  Israel  will  be 
redeemed  from  her  misery.  He  says  :  "Woe  to  all  such. 
Of  what  good  is  the  day  of  Jehovah  to  you  ?  It  is 
darkness,  and  not  light.  As  if  a  man  did  flee  from  a 
lion,  and  a  bear  met  him  ;  or  went  into  the  house  and 
leaned  his  hand  on  the  wall  and  a  serpent  bit  him. 
Shall  not  the  day  of  the  Lord  be  darkness,  and  not 
light?  even  very  dark,  and  no  brightness  in  it?"  Then 
there  is  a  third  class  of  people  in  his  audience.  These 
are  the  people  who  have  been  depending  upon  the  car- 
rying out  of  the  ceremonial  law.  He  says  to  them  : 
"  Nor  will  these  threatened  judgments  be  averted  by 
your  feasts  and  sacrifices.  Away  with  them  !  I  despise 
your  feast-days  ;  yea,  though  ye  think  to  offer  me  offer- 


THE  BOOK  OF  AMOS.  99 

ings,  I  will  not  accept  them.  Take  thou  away  from 
Me  the  noise  of  thy  songs  ;  for  I  will  not  hear  the 
melody  of  thy  viols.  But  let  judgment  run  down  as 
waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream.  The 
fact  is,  O  Israel,  you  have  been  idolatrous  from  time 
immemorial.  In  the  desert  you  went  into  idolatry.  In 
all  the  times  of  all  your  kings,  you  practised  idolatry. 
Therefore  I  will  carry  you  away  beyond  Damascus." 
In  the  6th  chapter  he  goes  on  :  "  Woe  to  you,  chief  men 
of  Zion,  who  trust  in  the  mountains  of  Samaria — ye 
that  put  far  away  the  evil  day,  and  cause  the  seat  of 
violence  to  come  near.  Woe  to  you  who  live  lives  of 
licentiousness  and  debauchery.  I  abhor  you.  I  will 
give  up  your  city  to  the  enemy.  Not  one  of  you  shall 
escape."  The  loth  is  a  very  interesting  verse  :  "When 
a  man's  uncle  shall  take  him  up,  and  he  that  burneth 
him,  to  bring  out  the  bones  out  of  the  house,  and  shall 
say  unto  him  that  is  in  the  innermost  parts  of  the  house, 
Is  there  any  yet  with  thee  ?  and  he  shall  say,  No  ;  then 
shall  he  say.  Hold  thy  peace,  for  we  may  not  make  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  the  Lord."  So  utter  is  this  destruc- 
tion that  everybody  shall  be  destroyed  ;  and  yet  if  some 
one  should  remain — a  tenth  man,  the  other  nine  being 
dead — he  will  be  so  terrified  that  he  will  go  into  the 
back  part  of  the  house,  and  when  he  is  discovered,  he 
will  say  :  "Be  quiet.  Don't  mention  the  name  of  God. 
We  don't  want  Him  to  know  there  is  any  of  us  left."  So 
terrible  is  this  destruction  !  "  Nor  will  you,"  continues 
the  prophet,  "  when  everything  is  ready,  be  able  to  turn 
aside  the  punishment."  This  closes  the  second  sermon. 
Will  you  try  to  grasp  it  as  a  whole  ?  "  Israel  is  fallen — 
never  more  to  rise.  Why?  Because  you  did  just  the 
opposite  of  what  God  commanded  you  to  do.  Because 
you  served  at  Bethel  and  Gilgal.     Yet  God  says  :  'Seek 


lOO  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

Me,  O  ye  that  turn  judgment  to  wormwood.'  Though 
you  are  commanded  to  seek  God,  you  will  not.  You 
hate  your  teachers,  and  abhor  the  upright.  You  shall 
be  punished.  Your  sins  are  many.  You  shall  be  swept 
away.  If  there  are  any  of  you  who  as  individuals  would 
escape  this,  do  good.  If  any  of  you  are  thinking  there 
will  be  a  day  of  redemption,  rid  your  minds  of  such  a 
thought,  for  there  is  nothing  in  it.  If  there  are  any  of 
you  who  are  resting  upon  sacrifices  and  offerings,  let  me 
tell  you,  I  hate  the  whole  thing.  I  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  them.  The  fact  is,  O  Israel,  you  have  been 
idolaters  from  the  beginning.  You  deserve  punish- 
ment. You  shall  be  punished.  And  the  chief  men — 
your  leaders  in  self-indulgence — will  be  leaders  among 
the  captives  in  a  short  time.  I  abhor  you.  Your  city 
shall  be  wiped  out  of  existence.  You  who  have  turned 
judgment  into  bitterness  shall  taste  bitterness.  A  na- 
tion shall  be  raised  up  to  afflict  you." 

Will  you  imagine,  if  you  please,  that  the  prophet  stops 
for  a  while  ?  He  has  preached  two  sermons.  The  peo- 
ple know  what  he  has  come  for.  It  may  have  been  a 
week  after,  or  a  year — we  don't  know — it  must  have 
been  some  time — he  appears  again  upon  the  street.  You 
have  the  beginning  of  his  further  discourse  in  the  7th 
chapter.  He  says  :  "  I  had  a  vision  last  night."  This 
time  he  changes  his  method  of  dealing  with  the  people. 
He  is,  however,  endeavoring  to  accomplish  the  same 
end.  "  Thus  hath  the  Lord  God  showed  me  a  vision — 
a  dream  :  Behold,  He  formed  locusts  ;  and,  lo,  it  was  in 
the  latter  growth  after  the  king's  mowings.  And  it 
came  to  pass  that  when  they  had  made  an  end  of  eating 
the  grass  of  the  land,  then  I  said,  O  Lord  God,  forgive, 
I  beseech  Thee."  Then  he  tells  the  people  the  Lord 
God  repented,  and  said,  "It  shall  not  be."     Amos  says 


THE   BOOK   OF  AMOS.  lOI 

that  the  destruction  came  out  to  destroy,  but  that  at  his 
interposition  God  withdrew  His  hand.  No  doubt  the 
people  thanked  God  that  there  was  one  among  them 
whose  interposition  was  so  effective.  Next  morning  he 
goes  on.  He  has  had  another  vision.  The  people  crowd 
around  him  to  hear  what  it  is.  "The  Lord  God  called 
to  contend  by  fire  ;  and  it  devoured  the  great  deep,  and 
would  have  eaten  up  the  land.  Then  said  I,  O  Lord 
God,  cease,  I  beseech  Thee  :  how  shall  Jacob  stand  ?  fot- 
he  is  small.  And  the  Lord  said  :  This  also  shall  not 
be."  Again  the  people  rejoice  that  there  is  one  in  their 
midst  who  can  turn  aside  the  hand  of  God  from  destroy- 
ing them.  Next  day  or  next  week  he  appears  again. 
He  says  :  "  I  have  seen  another  vision.  The  Lord  God. 
stood  beside  a  wall  with  a  plumb-line,  and  He  said  to 
me,  Behold,  I  will  set  a  plumb-line  in  the  midst  of  My 
people  Israel  :  I  will  not  again  pass  by  them  any  more." 
Israel  had  been  carefully  taken  care  of.  Her  towns  had 
been  built  by  the  plumb-line.  Now  they  were  to  be  just 
as  carefully  demolished  as  they  had  been  built.  "  I  will 
set  a  plumb-line  in  the  midst  of  My  people  Israel  :  I 
will  not  again  pass  by  them  any  more  :  and  the  high 
places  of  Isaac  shall  be  desolate,  and  the  sanctuaries  of 
Israel  shall  be  laid  waste."  Notice  what  follows  :  "And 
I  will  rise  against  the  house  of  Jeroboam  with  the 
sword."  This  was  too  much.  Jeroboam  was  king.  For 
the  first  time  the  preacher  mentioned  his  name.  "Then 
Amaziah,  the  priest  of  Bethel,  sent  to  Jeroboam,  king 
of  Israel,  saying,  Amos  hath  conspired  against  thee  in 
the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel  :  the  land  is  not  able  to 
bear  all  his  words.  For  thus  Amos  saith,  Jeroboam 
shall  die  by  the  sword,  and  Israel  shall  surely  be  led 
captive  out  of  their  own  land."  This  third  sermon  of 
Amos  was  too  much  for  the  people,  and  Amaziah  sent 


I02  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

to  the  king.  In  the  12th  v^rse  the  high-priest  Amaziah 
calls  Amos,  and  says  to  him  :  "  O  thou  seer,  go,  flee  thee 
away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there  eat  bread,  and 
prophesy  there  :  but  prophesy  not  again  any  more  at 
Bethel,  for  it  is  the  king's  sanctuary,  and  it  is  a  royal 
house."  Amos  is  ordered  to  stop.  How  does  he  receive 
the  message  ?  "  Then  answered  Amos  and  said  to  Ama- 
ziah, I  am  no  prophet,  neither  was  I  a  prophet's  son.  I 
am  not  one  of  those  men  that  go  under  the  name  of 
prophets.  I  am  no  minister.  Nor  am  I  a  prophet's  son: 
I  never  was  educated  in  a  school  of  the  prophets.  I 
was  a  herd  man  and  a  dresser  of  sycamore  trees.  And 
the  Lord  took  me  from  following  the  flock,  and  the  Lord 
said  unto  me.  Go,  prophesy  unto  My  people  Israel.  Now 
therefore  hear  thou  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  Thou  say- 
est.  Prophesy  not  against  Israel.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  : 
Thy  wife  shall  be  an  harlot  in  the  city,  and  thy  sons  and 
daughters  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  and  thy  land  shall  be 
divided  by  line  ;  and  thou  thyself  shalt  die  in  a  land 
that  is  unclean,  and  Israel  shall  surely  be  led  away  cap- 
tive out  of  his  land.  I  am  simply  setting  before  you 
what  I  was  commanded  by  God  to  declare.  You  can't 
stop  me.     The  king  can't  stop  me." 

The  fourth  vision  is  that  of  summer  fruit.  "  Behold," 
says  Amos,  "  I  saw  a  basket  of  summer  fruit.  And  the 
Lord  said.  The  end  is  come  upon  My  people  Israel.  I 
will  not  again  pass  by  them  any  more.  And  the  songs 
of  the  temple  shall  be  howlings  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord  ;  the  dead  bodies  shall  be  many ;  in  every  place 
shall  they  cast  them  forth  with  silence."  This  was  his 
vision.  There  is  no  interposing  hand  now.  He  doesn't 
pray  to  God  asking  Him  to  cease,  and  to  forbear.  The 
time  is  past  for  that.  He  goes  right  on,  and  foretells 
utter  destruction.     Before  the  command  came  for  him 


THE   BOOK   OF  AMOS.  JO3 

to  Stop  work,  Amos  merely  delivered  his  visions.  The 
first  three  are  merely  statements.  Then  the  order  came 
from  the  king  that  he  should  depart  and  preach  no 
more.  He  sees  that  it  is  of  no  use  to  plead  for  this  peo- 
ple. So  this  time  he  isn't  satisfied  with  merely  deliver- 
ing his  vision.  He  announces  his  vision  and  then 
preaches  a  sermon  upon  it — as  he  does  also  with  the 
next  vision.  Here  is  his  sermon.  [The  speaker  read 
the  remainder  of  the  8th  chapter.] 

And  now  in  the  9th  chapter  we  find  that  Amos  ap- 
pears again — the  next  day,  or  the  next  month.  He  has 
had  another  vision,  and  this  is  the  most  terrible  of  all. 
*'  I  saw  the  Lord,"  he  says,  "  standing  beside  the  altar  ; 
and  He  said.  Smite  the  chapiters,  that  the  thresholds 
may  shake  ;  and  break  them  in  pieces  on  the  head  of 
all  of  them  ;  and  I  will  slay  the  last  of  them  with  the 
sword  :  there  shall  not  one  of  them  flee  away,  and  there 
shall  not  one  of  them  escape."  This  was  the  vision  : 
an  altar  broken.  The  nation  is  supposed  to  stand  at 
the  threshold  of  the  temple  ;  a  blow  is  rtruck  on  the 
top,  and  the  whole  building  is  destroyed.  He  preaches 
again  upon  this.     [The  speaker  read  verses  2-10.J 

Now,  will  you  go  back  to  the  beginning  ?  Will  you 
remember  the  introduction  ? — the  destruction  of  Damas- 
cus, of  Philistia,  of  Tyre  ;  the  destruction  of  Edom,  of 
Moab,  of  Ammon  ;  the  destruction  of  Judah  ;  the  de- 
struction of  Israel.  Will  you  recall  the  first  sermon — 
foretelling  punishment  for  sin  ;  and  the  second  sermon — 
filled  with  lamentation  over  Israel  ?  Then  came  the  five 
visions,  every  one  of  which  breathes  forth  destruction — 
the  locusts,  the  fire,  the  plumb-line,  the  summer-fruit, 
and  the  broken  altar.  Is  there  any  bright  side  ?  Is  the 
future  beyond  altogether  night  ?  No.  For  although 
Israel  is  to  be  destroyed,  there  is  a  remnant — a  precious 


104  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELI). 

remnant.  And  dark  and  terrible  as  have  been  his  words, 
Amos  closes  with  five  verses  of  promise,  beginning  with 
the  nth  verse  :  "  In  that  day  will  I  raise  up  the  taber- 
nacle of  David  that  is  fallen,  and  close  up  the  breaches 
thereof  ;  and  I  will  raise  up  his  ruins,  and  I  will  build 
it  as  in  the  days  of  old."  The  royal  line  of  David  shall 
be  raised  up  and  given  dominion  over  all  the  nations. 
The  13th  verse  indicates  a  rapid  succession  of  harvests, 
and  abundant. material  prosperity.  These  were  the  Old 
Testament  modes  of  representing  this  great  and  glorious 
epoch  that  was  to  come.  He  goes  on  in  the  14th  verse  : 
"  Israel  shall  be  restored  from  captivity,  and  shall  build 
cities,  and  plant  vineyards  and  gardens.  And  never 
again  will  I  pluck  them  out  of  their  land,  saith  Jehovah, 
thy  God." 

Several  important  questions  arise,  such  as  :  "  When 
was  all  this  fulfilled  ? "  and,  "  Is  there  to  be  a  return  of 
the  Jews  to  Palestine — a  return  after  which  they  shall 
never  more  be  plucked  out  of  their  land  ?"  These  ques- 
tions cannot  be  considered  here.  Whatever  answer  you 
may  make  to  them,  the  question  just  now  is,  What  is  the 
great  lesson — the  great  message — of  this  book  ?  It  is 
one  which  many  ministers  in  our  day  hesitate  to  preach, 
but  one  upon  which  the  very  truth  of  the  Gospel  hangs  : 
punishment — punishment  ! — yes,  the  punishment  of  sin- 
ners ;  and  yet  the  redemption  and  love  of  those  who 
acknowledge  God. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SATAN  FALLEN  FROM  HEAVEN. 

Address  by  Bishop  Hendrix,  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church — 
Mission  of  the  Seventy  Disciples — Our  Saviour's  Vision — His 
Joy  in  Beholding  a  Consecrated  and  Aggressive  Church — Activ- 
ity of  the  Laity  Essential  to  Progress — Centuries  of  Stagnation — 
Modern  Recognition  of  Lay  Service — Christian  Evolution — Char- 
acter Indispensable  to  Success. 

Will  you  please  turn  to  the  loth  chapter  of  Luke's 
Gospel  ?  I  shall  seek  to  expound  to  you  this  morning 
the  mission  of  the  seventy,  as  recorded  in  the  first  24 
verses  of  that  chapter.  We  know  much  about  the  twelve 
Apostles.  We  know  each  one  of  their  names,  which  are 
again  and  again  repeated.  But  we  don't  know  a  single 
name  of  the  seventy.  The  circumstances  of  the  sending 
out  of  the  twelve  and  of  the  seventy  were  deeply  im- 
pressive. In  the  case  of  the  twelve  our  Lord  spent  the 
whole  night  in  prayer  previous  to  their  being  sent  forth, 
and  their  appointment  seemed  to  fill  His  mind  with 
great  anxiety.  But  special  joy  seemed  to  fill  His  heart 
over  the  labors  of  the  seventy — seemingly  more  than 
over  the  labors  of  the  twelve  ;  for  when  they  returned, 
announcing  the  results  of  their  work,  He  rejoiced  before 
them  all,  declaring  that  as  they  were  laboring  He  wit- 
nessed the  speedy  overthrow  of  Satan.  Attending  both 
appointments  there  was  some  measure  of  formality.  In 
the  case  of  the  Apostles,  they  seem  to  have  been  or- 
dained, or  solemnly  set  apart,  to  the  work.     In  the  case 

(105) 


I06  COLLEGE    STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

of  the  seventy,  while  perhaps  there  was  less  ceremony, 
our  Lord's  aim  seems  to  have  been  to  fill  their  hearts 
with  a  sense  of  their  responsibility  to  those  to  whom 
they  were  sent. 

Now,  shall  we  read  the  passage  ?  "After  these  things." 
The  incident  which  we  are  to  consider  occurred  during 
the  latter  part  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  or  possibly  within 
six  or  eight  months  of  His  decease.  Luke  places  it  after 
the  Transfiguration.  We  know  that  the  Transfiguration 
of  Christ  occurred  not  a  great  while  before  His  death 
and  ascension.  "After  these  things  ":  after  the  twelve 
had  been  appointed  and  had  been  at  work.  When  the 
twelve  were  being  ordained,  no  doubt  there  was  many 
a  heart  among  the  spectators  aching  to  do  something 
for  the  Lord.  Many  a  disciple,  possibly,  would  have 
been  glad  to  go  forth  and  announce  in  some  village  or 
city  :  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you." 
Then  "  the  Lord  appointed  other  seventy  also,"  and  sent 
them  forth  ;  and,  like  the  Apostles,  He  sent  them  forth 
two  and  two.  The  very  names  of  the  Apostles  are 
usually  given  two  together.  In  the  Acts  recording  their 
labors,  it  is  "  Paul  and  Silas,"  "  Paul  and  Barnabas  " — 
co-laborers.  Whenever  Paul  was  left  alone,  despond- 
ency seems  to  have  seized  him.  The  Apostles  and  the 
disciples  were  sent  forth  two  by  two  in  order  that  they 
might  comfort  and  strengthen  each  other.  God  has  a 
wonderful  arithmetic.  He  makes  two  ten  times  more 
than  one.  "  How  should  one  chase  a  thousand,  and  two 
put  ten  thousand  to  flight?"  We  all  need  the  friend- 
ship, help,  and  sympathy  that  can  come  from  contact 
with  kindred  spirits.  "Therefore  saith  He  unto  them. 
The  harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few  ; 
pray  ye,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He 
would  send  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest"    The  same 


SATAN   FALLEN   FROM    HEAVEN.  I07 

language  is  used  here  as  in  the  sending  out  of  the 
twelve.  And  much  of  the  language  which  directs  their 
labors  is  similar  :  "  Go  your  ways  ;  Behold,  I  send  you 
j^orth  as  lambs  among  wolves.  Carry  neither  purse,  nor 
scrip,  nor  shoes  ;  and  salute  no  man  by  the  way."  "Your 
business  is  urgent."  The  habits  of  the  Orientals  are  to 
linger  by  the  roadside,  and  to  interchange  compliments, 
and  gossip,  and  spend  hours  of  valuable  time  in  that 
manner.  Jesus  would  have  His  disciples  salute  no  man 
by  the  way— refrain  from  any  of  those  interchanges  of 
courtesy  by  virtue  of  the  importance  of  their  mission. 
"  And  into  whatsoever  house  ye  enter,  first  say,  Peace  be 
to  this  house."  A  layman  or  a  minister  needs  to  respect 
the  proprieties  of  life,  and  the  rights  of  others.  To  en- 
ter a  man's  home  is  a  delicate  matter.  You  must  enter 
it  in  the  name  and  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  if  you  would 
find  access  to  human  hearts.  To  talk  to  a  man  about 
his  soul  is  a  delicate  matter.  It  should  never  be  done 
brusquely  or  rudely  ;  but  rather  kindly — in  the  spirit  of 
peace.  "And  if  the  son  of  peace  be  there,  your  peace 
shall  rest  upon  it."  "  If  the  man  is  easily  receptive  of 
the  kindly  and  gentle  influence,  your  peace  will  abide." 
"  If  not,  it  shall  turn  to  you  again.  And  in  the  same 
house  remain,  eating  and  drinking  such  things  as  they 
give  :  For  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  Go  not 
from  house  to  house."  By  this  I  understand  that  the 
Master  would  caution  them  against  a  too  social  life — a 
too  free  participation  in  hospitality,  by  which  their 
minds  might  be  diverted  ;  just  as  He  bade  them  refrain 
from  ordinary  salutations  in  order  that  valuable  time 
might  be  saved  for  more  important  work.  There  are 
sins  of  the  table  of  which  ministers  of  God  may  be 
guilty,  which  they  need  to  guard  against  if  they  would 
devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  work  of  the  Lord, 


I08  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT    NORTHFIELD. 

"And  into  whatsoever  city  ye  enter,  and  they  receive 
you,  eat  such  things  as  are  set  before  yoa."  "  Don't  be 
squeamish  as  to  food  offered  to  idols.  Let  none  of  those 
matters  interfere  with  your  single  work.  It  is  nothing 
to  you.  what  idols  your  food  may  have  stood  before." 
"  And  heal  the  sick  that  are  therein,  and  say  unto  them  : 
The  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you.  But  into 
whatsoever  city  ye  enter,  and  they  receive  you  not,  go 
your  ways  out  into  the  streets  of  the  same,  and  say  : 
Even  the  very  dust  of  your  city,  which  cleaveth  on  us, 
we  do  wipe  off  against  you  ;  notwithstanding,  be  ye  sure 
of  this,  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you. 
But  I  say  unto  you,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  in 

that  day  for  Sodom  than  for  that  city He  that 

heareth  you,  heareth  Me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you, 
despiseth  Me;  and  he  that  despiseth  Me,  despiseth  Him 
that  sent  Me." 

That  was  the  extent  of  the  commission.  The  dis- 
ciples were  seemingly  given  like  authority  with  the 
Apostles,  save  in  this  :  there  was  no  special  commission 
to  preach,  and  there  was  no  special  commission  to  cast 
out  devils.  Their  commission  was  to  go  and  prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  like  John  the  Baptist — to  heal  the 
sick,  and  announce  Christ's  coming — to  say:  "The 
Master  Himself  will  sooa  be  here.  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  come  nigh  unto  you."  Now,  observe  what  fol- 
lowed. "And  the  seventy  returned  again  with  joy, 
saying,  Lord,  even  the  devils  are  subject  unto  us  through 
Thy  name."  He  hadn't  given  them  any  authority  to 
cast  out  devils  ;  but  such  was  their  zeal  and  delight  in 
His  service  that  when  they  found  some  of  those  unfor- 
tunate persons  who  in  our  Lord's  day  were  possessed  by 
evil  spirits,  they  essayed  to  cast  them  out,  and  suc- 
ceeded.  They  accomplished  what  the  Apostles,  although 


.  SATAN   FALLEN  FROM   HEAVEN.  109 

clothed  with  authority,  sometimes  failed  to  accomplish. 
They  had  become  conscious  of  power  which  they  could 
use  for  the  Master,  assured  of  His  blessing.  Had  Satan 
multiplied  himself  in  numberless  forms  ?  Had  evil 
spirits  become  incarnate  in  unfortunate  victims  ?  Then 
the  Lord  could  send  forth  a  multitude  of  men  able  to 
cast  out  those  evil  spirits.  They  returned,  we  are  told, 
with  joy,  announcing  to  the  Lord  this  wonderful  result. 
"  And  He  said  unto  them,  I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning 
fall  from  Heaven."  "While  you  were  engaged  in  this 
work,  now  and  then  casting  out  an  evil  spirit,  I  had  a 
vision  of  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of  evil.  I  saw 
Satan  fallen  " — so  the  new  version  renders  it — "  like 
lightning  from  Heaven,  his  kingdom  actually  over- 
thrown." "Fallen";  and  "fallen  like  lightning."  A 
marvellous  declaration  !  These  seventy  brought  to  the 
vision  of  our  Lord  a  thrilling  experience  that  the  work 
of  the  twelve  hadn't  brought.  He  had  a  joy  in  their 
labor  that  seemingly  did  not  come  to  Him  from  the  work 
of  the  Apostles  themselves. 

Now,  I  submit  to  you  this  question  :  When  there  was 
granted  during  our  Lord's  lifetime  a  vision  like  that,  of 
the  speedy  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of  evil,  why  the 
delay — and  the  Qhurch  of  the  living  God  for  centuries 
crying  out  :  "  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  ? "  What 
was  the  explanation  of  the  joy  of  our  Lord  in  that 
eventful  hour  ?  For  this  joy  was  the  great  undertone  of 
His  life.  We  speak  of  Him  as  a  Man  of  Sorrows.  He 
was  really  a  Man  of  Joys — "who,  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  Him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame, 
and  was  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
God  " — and  oftentimes  the  joy  in  Him  was  so  exuber- 
ant that  it  burst  out  in  expression.  In  this  case  He  re- 
joiced before  His  disciples,  so  that  they  were  profoundly 


no  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

impressed  with  His  joy.  Why  was  that  joy  granted  to 
the  Master  then?  And  the  consummation  which  He 
beheld  so  speedily  effected — why  has  it  been  so  long 
delayed  ? 

From  this  mission  of  the  seventy  I  propose  to  draw 
some  lessons,  which  I  trust  will  be  of  large  profit  under 
God  to  each  of  us.  The  first  one  is  this  :  The  secret  of 
our  Master's  joy  was  the  vision  of  a  consecrated  and 
aggressive  Church.  Those  seventy,  at  that  time  seemed, 
apart  from  the  Apostles,  to  have  constituted  the  entire 
Church.  They  composed  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
Church.  They  were  the  Master's  laborers,  on  whom  He 
could  depend.  They  responded  eagerly  to  His  call  and 
went  forth  joyfully  to  His  work.  I  don't  think  they 
were  ministers — though  many  of  them  possibly  after- 
wards became  ministers.  They  were  what  we  would 
now  designate  as  lay  preachers — also  engaged  in  secular 
employment,  now  and  then  essaying  religious  work,  and 
doing  it  with  the  signal  blessing  of  God  resting  richly 
upon  them.  It  was  this  spectacle — not  of  the  twelve  at 
work,  but  of  the  seventy  at  work — that  so  thrilled  our 
Lord  with  holy  joy.  Their  consecrated  activities  were 
a  pledge  of  what  the  Church  should  do  when  wholly 
enlisted  in  the  work  of  extending  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord.  A  false  view  of  the  Church  has  greatly  delayed 
its  achieving  this  result.  It  is  too  often  supposed  to  be 
simply  the  ministry.  The  true  conception  of  the  Church 
is  that  it  is  a  body  of  faithful  persons  among  whom 
God's  Word  is  preached  and  the  sacraments  are  duly 
administered.  The  preacher  is  but  the  minister  or  ser- 
vant of  the  Church.  The  Church  in  the  Scriptures  is 
always  designated  by  "  the  faithful  "  —  *'  the  saints." 
The  minister  is  appointed  to  feed  this  flock  of  Christ. 
It  is  his  duty  to  instruct  them,  to  stimulate  and  direct 


SATAN  FALLEN  FROM    HEAVEN.  Ill 

their  labors,  and  to  organize  them  for  the  greatest  effi- 
ciency. Whenever  the  Church  has  supposed  that  its 
battles  are  to  be  fought  merely  by  its  officers,  or  the 
ministers  of  the  Word,  it  has  failed  to  achieve  any  sig- 
nal result.  The  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ — "  the 
fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  He  is  as  incar- 
nate in  His  Church  to-day  as  He  was  in  the  person  of 
Mary's  son.  And  the  Church  manifests  to  the  world 
His  spirit  and  life.  It  is  a  vision  of  "  the  faithful " — 
"the  saints  " — heartily  enlisted  for  the  extension  of  His 
kingdom  —  eagerly  doing  His  bidding  —  enterprising 
large  things  in  His  name,  and  achieving  signal  success 
— that  fills  Him  with  such  joy,  and  calls  forth  from  His 
lips  the  announcement  of  the  speedy  consummation  of 
His  work. 

Another  lesson  is  this  :  In  all  normal  periods  in  the 
history  of  the  Church,  the  laymen  have  abounded  in  ac- 
tivity for  God.  The  father  of  the  faithful  himself — 
Abraham — was  a  layman.  The  patriarchs,  in  the  name 
of  whose  God  Israel  was  wont  to  pray — Isaac  and  Jacob 
— were  laymen.  Joseph,  the  mighty  statesman  of  Israel 
and  Egypt — whose  faith  and  courage  saved  a  nation 
alive,  and  whose  unburied  bones  remained  a  pledge  of 
his  own  confidence  that  the  Promised  Land  should  be 
given  to  his  seed,  until,  borne  by  the  triumphant  host, 
they  rested  in  the  Holy  Land  itself — was,  like  the  other 
patriarchs,  a  layman.  Caleb  and  Joshua,  appointed  to 
lead  those  hosts  to  victory,  were  laymen.  Gideon  and 
Barak,  Jephthah  and  Samson,  called  to  complete  the 
victories  which  those  other  laymen  had  won,  were  them- 
selves also  laymen.  And  the  time  would  fail  to  tell  of 
Mordecai,  and  of  Nehemiah,  and  of  the  three  Hebrew 
children,  and  of  the  Maccabees — all  devout  laymen, 
whose  faith  in  the  darkest  hours  quickened  the  faith  of 


112  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

Others.  Nor  is  it  less  true  of  the  laity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament that  they  usually  abounded  in  labors  for  the 
Master.  Two  of  them  were  chosen  as  evangelists  to 
write  the  story  of  the  Lord's  life — one  writing  also  the 
record  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  So  full  of  zeal  and 
labor  were  Mark  and  Luke  that  we  need  to  be  reminded 
that  they  were  not  of  the  twelve,  though  possibly  they 
were  of  the  seventy.  Laymen  like  Cornelius,  and 
Aquila,  and  Gains,  and  Stephen,  and  Philip — saints  like 
the  Marys,  and  Salome,  and  Dorcas,  and  Lydia — how 
can  their  names  disappear  from  the  sacred  record  with 
which  they  are  so  inseparably  connected  ?  In  those 
normal  days  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  the  laity 
were  intimately  associated  with  the  Apostles,  alike  in 
trial  and  in  labor.  Many  were  devoted  students  of  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  Aquila  and  Priscilla  could  instruct  an 
Apollos.  Lois  and  Eunice  developed  the  religious  life 
of  a  Timothy.  And  the  same  continued  to  be  the  case 
in  the  early  Church,  when  Origen  of  Alexandria,  widely 
known  for  his  diligence  as  a  student  of  the  Scriptures, 
was  invited  by  the  bishops  of  Caesarea  and  Jerusalem  to 
preach  before  them.  A  false  notion,  however,  of  the 
work  of  the  ministry — that  they  were  to  serve  in  an  in- 
termediary relation  between  the  laity  and  the  Saviour — 
led  to  the  Synod  of  Rome  in  502  refusing  the  laity  per- 
mission to  participate  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  This 
led  subsequently  to  their  being  refused  the  sacrament  in 
both  kinds,  and  not  long  after  to  their  being  denied  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures.  This  paralysis  of  the  body 
soon  led  to  a  paralysis  of  the  tongue  itself ;.  and  thelay> 
men  ceasing  to  read,  and  in  a  measure  to  expound  the 
Scriptures,  resulted  in  not  a  sermon  being  preached  by 
a  bishop  of  Rome  for  a  period  of  five  hundred  years. 
The  priests  ceased  to  be  expounders  of  the  Word,  and 


SATAN   FALLEN   FROM   HEAVEN.  II3 

worship  became  simply  a  matter  of  ritual  In  this  state 
of  affairs  preaching  monks  arose  —  the  Dominicans 
and  the  Franciscans — who  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word  as  they  knew  it.  Though  they  were  laymen, 
so  were  they  hailed  on  every  side  that  they  began  to  be 
known  as  the  regular  clergy,  in  distinction  from  the 
priests,  who  were  called  the  secular  clergy.  The  work 
of  these  laymen  helped  to  save  the  Church  of  Rome 
from  complete  disintegration.  With  the  beginning  of 
Protestantism,  laymen  entered,  as  in  the  Apostolic  times, 
into  the  work  of  extending  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 
All  honor  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which,  in  such  an 
early  day,  called  into  its  councils  wise  and  godly  lay- 
men— an  example  that  has  been  followed  by  other  de- 
nominations in  the  Protestant  world,  until  to-day  there 
is  not  a  leading  church  in  Christendom  that  doesn't  al- 
low laymen  to  share  in  its  deliberations  and  legislation. 
And  the  consequence  is  that  out  of  this  awakened  life 
of  the  Church  there  has  gone  forth  an  influence  upon 
the  world,  helping  to  reproduce  the  vision  of  Satan 
fallen  like  lightning  from  Heaven.  A  dead  church 
means  inactive  laymen.  A  preacher  who  cannot  enlist 
and  stir  the  laity  into  activity  is  himself  to  be  pitied. 
He  reproduces  himself  ten-fold — an  hundred-fold — 
through  the  activities  of  the  laity.  The  whole  concep- 
tion of  the  ministry,  my  brethren,  is  to  feed  the  flock, 
and  to  set  them  to  work.  Let  us  bear  that  in  mind,  and 
be  delivered  from  those  false  views  which  would  as- 
sume for  ourselves  the  doing  of  this  work.  No — no  ! 
Let  us  have  the  spirit  of  Moses  when  he  said  :  "  Would 
that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets."  We  note  in 
our  day  manifold  forms  of  lay  activity — not  only  in  the 
Sabbath-school,  in  medical  mission  work,  in  hospital 
work  at  home,  and  in  city  missionary  work,  but  in  Bible 


114  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

study,  and  the  wide-reaching  influence  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association — an  organization  which,  in 
view  of  the  development  it  has  given  to  the  work  of 
laymen,  I  venture  to  call  the  religious  movement  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Our  Lord  would  seem  to  be  again 
sending  out  an  army  composed  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
His  Church  into  every  place  whither  He  Hiftnself  would 
come. 

The  third  lesson  I  wish  to  draw  is  this  :  From  the 
ranks  of  consecrated  laymen  God  calls  men  to  preach 
His  Gospel.  This  is  the  process  of  evolution  in  the 
Church  of  the  living  God.  [Mr.  Moody — I  believe  in 
that  kind  of  evolution.]  The  Apostles  were  first  laymen, 
taught  by  Christ,  before  He  commissioned  and  sent 
them  forth  to  preach  His  Gospel.  And  doubtless 
from  the  ranks  of  those  seventy  He  sent  forth  later 
many  to  preach  His  Gospel.  Stephen  and  Philip 
may  have  been  of  the  number — possibly  Barnabas  and 
Silas.  Many  of  the  seventy  may  have  been  of  those  who 
went  out  after  the  persecution  of  Stephen  everywhere 
preaching  the  Gospel.  And  this  has  been  the  history  of 
the  calling  of  men  to  the  holy  ministry  in  all  periods. 
A  notable  instance  occurred  in  the  history  of  Ambrose, 
who  was  Governor  of  Northern  Italy,  living  in  his  palace 
at  Milan.  The  Bishop  of  Milan  having  died,  and  great 
excitement  prevailing  on  account  of  the  Arian  heresy 
that  was  then  assuming  formidable  proportions,  the 
multitude  filled  the  streets  in  front  of  the  palace  of 
Ambrose,  proclaiming  their  anxiety  for  the  very  life  of 
the  Church.  The  Roman  Governor  stepped  forth  to 
quiet  their  fears  with  words  of  wise  counsel.  He  as- 
sured them  that  Christ  who  was  Head  over  all  things  to 
His  Church  would  soon  fill  the  place  made  vacant  by 
the  death  of  their  pastor.     So  were  they  impressed  by 


SATAN   FALLEN   FROM    HEAVEN.  II5 

his  faith  and  love  for  the  Church,  and  knowing  so  well 
his  life  of  piety  and  his  beautiful  Christian  character, 
that  the  voice  of  the  multitude  cried  :  "Let  Ambrose  be 
bishop."  The  clamor  was  taken  up  on  all  sides,  and  the 
accomplished  orator  and  wise  Governor  found  himself 
called,  alike  by  the  voice  of  the  people  and  by  a  sense 
of  personal  duty,  to  the  work  of  the  holy  ministry.  At 
his  feet,  drawn  by  his  fame  as  a  rhetorician,  sat  Augus- 
tine, who,  returning  to  Africa,  w^as  himself  called,  in 
recognition  alike  of  his  gifts  and  of  his  piety,  to  preach 
the  Gospel  as  the  Bishop  of  Hippo.  And  so  it  has 
transpired  in  all  ages  of  the  Church's  history,  that  God 
lays  His  hand  upon  laymen,  devout  and  zealous,  to  de- 
vote themselves  wholly  to  His  service.  I  have  no  fear 
as  to  the  future  of  any  man  whose  greatest  delight  is  to 
obey  and  serve  his  Saviour.  He  settles  first  of  all  the 
matter  of  personal  consecration,  saying  :  ^'  Lord  God, 
make  the  best  possible  use  of  me  ";  and  along  that  line 
he  finds  the  highest  joy  in  life,  because  he  puts  himself 
where  His  Master  can  use  him. 

The  other  point  I  wish  to  make  is  this  :  That  charac- 
ter is  more  important  than  service.  To  the  exultant 
seventy  announcing  that  the  devils  were  subject  to  them 
in  His  name,  Christ  said  :  "  Rejoice  not  that  the  spirits 
are  subject  unto  you  ;  but  rather  rejoice  that  your  names 
are  written  in  Heaven."  My  dear  brethren,  it  is  not 
what  we  are,  but  what  we  do,  that  is  the  most  important 
thing.  The  Apostle  feared  that  having  preached  to 
others  he  himself  might  become  a  castaway.  The  vital 
question,  at  the  basis  of  all  Christian  work,  is  what  we 
are.  The  service  we  are  rendering  is  best  measured  by 
that  standard.  Many  a  heart  grows  despondent  because 
it  is  not  doing  more,  when  the  fact  is  that  it  is  accom- 
plishing far  more  than  it  has  any  knowledge  of.    Brother 


Il6  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

layman,  you  can  never  bring  any  one  nearer  to  Christ 
than  you  are  yourself.  Brother  minister,  you  will  never 
lift  your  congregation  nearer  to  the  Saviour  than  you 
are  yourself.  If  you  are  abiding  in  Christ  you  are  re- 
producing yourself  in  thousands  of  instances  when  you 
are  wholly  unaware  of  it,  because  you  have  possessed  so 
much  of  the  spirit  and  life  of  your  Master.  Out  of  this 
personal  relationship  between  the  soul  and  Christ  come 
the  fruits  of  holy  living.  The  vine  does  not  bear  fruit 
of  itself  ;  it  bears  its  fruit  through  the  branches.  Our 
unconscious  influence  becomes  thus  far  more  fruitful 
than  our  conscious  influence.  In  that  day  many  shall 
bewail  that  they  have  accomplished  so  little,  and  look- 
ing at  the  scanty  results  shall  say :  "  When  saw  we 
Thee  hungry  and  fed  Thee  ;  or  athirst  and  gave  Thee 
drink  ? " — to  find  that  unconsciously  their  lives  had 
abounded  in  fruits  well  pleasing  in  the  Master's  sight. 
It  is  from  such  holy  lives  as  this  that  is  derived  our 
Master's  highest  joy.  It  is  when  the  whole  body  of 
Christ  becomes  instinct  with  His  spirit  that  the  world 
is  made  conscious  of  His  Divine  Headship  over  the 
Church. 

By  way  of  personal  application  :  To  the  young  men 
before  me  let  me  say  that  the  best  service  you  can  ren- 
der the  Master  is  to  be  yourselves  like  Him.  You  can- 
not be  too  diligent  as  students,  not  only  of  His  Word, 
but  in  all  the  departments  of  human  science.  But  what- 
ever attainment  you  possess,  bring  it,  as  did  the  wase 
men  of  the  East,  their  gifts  ;  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  the 
Saviour  ;  and  from  such  holy  service  God  may  call  you 
to  higher  orders  of  service.  Brethren,  if  you  cannot  be  of 
the  twelve,  at  least  rejoice  to  be  of  the  seventy.  And  may 
God  multiply  your  labors  abundantly.  May  you  thrill 
the  heart  of  your  Lord  as  He  gazes  upon  your  efforts. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ABIDING     IN     CHRIST. 

Address  by  the  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor—"  I  am  the  True  Vine  "— 
Significance  of  the  Language — Giving  Out  and  Taking  In — 
Cleansing  Through  the  Word — The  Difference  between  Abiding 
and  Feeding — Fruits  of  Abiding  :  Growth  in  Grace  and  Ineffable 
Joy  in  Service— "Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  You" — A  Mysterious 
Union. 

Will  you  open  with  me  to  the  15th  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John  :  "  I  am  the  true  vine,  and  My  Father 
is  the  husbandman."  It  is  a  great  help  in  studying 
Scripture  to  get,  if  we  can,  the  key  of  the  passage  under 
consideration  ;  and  you  will  very  frequently  find  it  at 
the  beginning  of  a  book  or  at  the  beginning  of  a  chap- 
ter. We  get  the  key  to  the  whole  question  of  fruit- 
bearing,  which  is  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  in  the  first 
two  words  :  "  I  am."  It  is  not  what  you  are,  but  what 
He  is,  that  is  the  all-important  thing.  "  I  am."  As  an- 
other illustration,  take  the  23d  Psalm.  What  is  the  key 
of  that  Psalm  ?  You  get  it  there  again  in  the  first  two 
words  :  "  The  Lord."  It  is  about  the  Lord.  It  is  not 
about  you  ;  it  is  about  Him.  As  to  what  we  are — why, 
we  are  as  changeable  as  the  winds  and  the  clouds  ;  but 
as  to  what  He  is.  He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever.  The  blessing  of  the  23d  Psalm— and  that  ap- 
plies to-day — depends  upon  this  :  upon  what  the  Lord 
is,  and  upon  what  the  Lord  does.  And  the  question  of 
fruit-bearing  depends,  not  upon  what  we  are,  not  where 

(117) 


Il8  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

we  are.  Our  surroundings  are — I  was  going  to  sa}'  im- 
material. They  are  not.  immaterial,  because  they  are 
what  God  has  ordered  and  arranged.  God  puts  every 
man  in  the  very  best  place  for  himself  and  for  the  world 
at  the  time.  Young  people  whose  hearts  are  stirred 
about  missionary  work  are  apt  to  say :  "  Well,  you 
know,  I  am  surrounded  by  very  unfavorable  circum- 
stances— surrounded  by  such  a  set  of  college  compan- 
ions ;  or  at  home  the  influences  are  against  me.  If  I 
could  only  go  to  India  or  China,  I  could  shine  for  Jesus." 
Why,  dear  friends,  a  candle  that  won't  shine  in  one  room 
is  very  unlikely  to  shine  in  another.  If  you  don't  shine 
at  home — if  your  father  and  mother,  your  sister  and 
brother,  if  the  very  cat  and  dog  in  the  house  are  not  the 
better  and  happier  for  your  being  a  Christian,  it  is  a 
question  whether  you  really  are  one.  It  isn't  our  sur- 
roundings and  circumstances  that  are  the  all-important 
thing  ;  but  how  far  we  are  linked — how  close  is  the 
union  between  our  souls  and  God.  What  do  we  know 
about  Him  ?  What  is  He  to  us  ?  This  is  the  all-import- 
ant question.  And  this  beautiful  chapter — we  are  all 
longing  to  be  fruit-bearers,  you  know — brings  the  whole 
question  before  us  in  the  first  verse,  I  might  almost  say 
in  the  first  words  :  "  I  am."  It  is  just  here  ;  and  in 
reading  the  Bible — if  I  may  still  dwell  on  this  subject  a 
little  before  I  read — you  will  be  surprised  if  your  atten- 
tion has  not  been  drawn  to  it  before,  how  the  Lord 
renders  prominent  all  through  the  Bible  what  He  is,  and 
what  He  is  going  to  do.  Take  for  instance  that  won- 
derful chapter,  the  36th  of  Ezekiel,  where  the  Lord  says 
that  He  is  going  to  take  His  people  out  from  among  the 
heathen  ;  He  is  going  to  bring  them  back  into  their  own 
land,  and  He  is  going  to  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  them 
and  make  them  clean  ;  He  is  going  to  write  His  law  in 


ABIDING   IN   CHRIST.  IIQ 

their  hearts,  and  He  is  going  to  keep  them  right,  as  well 
as  put  them  right.  It  is  what  He  is  all  the  way  through. 
Take  that  chapter  and  read  it  through,  and  emphasize 
the  first  personal  pronoun  where  it  clearly  refers  to  the 
Lord  ;  and  if  it  doesn't  surprise  and  delight  you,  it  will 
do  less  for  you  than  it  has  done  for  me.  So  in  reading 
this  chapter — the  15th  of  John — we  have  got  to  lose 
sight  of  what  we  are,  and  fix  our  attention  upon  the 
true  vine,  our  Saviour,  and  upon  His  Father.  "  I  am  the 
true  vine,"  he  says  ;  "  and  My  Father  is  the  husband- 
man." 

Notice  what  the  Lord  Jesus  says  here  :  "  I  am  the 
true  vine."  Of  course,  this  refers  to  the  15th  chapter 
of  Ezekiel,  where  Israel  is  spoken  of  as  a  vine  brought 
out  of  Egypt.  I  wish  I  had  leisure  to  compare  these 
two  chapters  together,  because  the  15th  of  Ezekiel  and 
the  15th  of  John  are  both  about  a  vine — the  one  about 
a  vine  brought  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  other  about  the  true 
vine.  Israel  proved  a  false  vine.  He  bore  fruit  for  him- 
self ;  not  for  God.  But  Christ  is  the  true  vine.  And 
then  there  is  another  thought  about  this  expression — 
"  I  am  the  true  vine."  What  is  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "true"  ?  It  isn't  sure  ;  it  isn't  true  as  opposed  to 
false  ;  it  isn't  that  the  vine-trees  that  we  have  in  our 
gardens  and  from  which  we  pluck  clusters  of  grapes  are 
not  real  vines — not  true  vines  in  one  sense  :  these  are 
vines,  while  there  are  worthless  ones.  But  it  is  "  true  " 
in  the  sense  that  that  which  is  the  substance  is  opposed 
to  that  which  is  the  shadow  ;  just  as  the  tree  in  the 
orchard  is  a  true  tree,  and  the  copy  of  it  in  your  pic- 
ture, or  painting,  you  know,  is  only  after  all  a  picture. 
The  vines  in  our  vineyards  are  only  pictures  of  some- 
thing higher  and  more  substantial,  that  was  in  the  Di- 
vine   mind    before    the   vine-tree   was    created.      Thus 


120  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

Christ  says  :  "  I  am  the  true  vine."  Oh,  there  is  a  world 
of  meaning  in  those  words  !  I  could  dwell  upon  them 
nearly  all  the  morning.  I  used  to  read  this  chapter — 
which  was  a  favorite  chapter  of  mine  from  the  time  I 
was  converted,  forty  years  ago— and  I  always  misread 
it.  I  will  tell  you  how  I  read  it.  I  read  :  "  I  am  the 
true  root";  and  I  used  to  say  to  myself  :  "That  is  true. 
Oh,  there  is  fatness  in  that  root.  But  how  is  my  poor 
puny  branch  going  to  get  fatness  out  of  that  root  ?  "  I 
learned,  however,  that  that  is  not  the  problem  at  all. 
He  doesn't  say  :  "  I  am  the  true  root  ";  it  is,  "  I  am  the 
true  vine."  The  branch  has  only  to  remain  in  the  vine 
to  enjoy  everything  that  is  in  that  vine.  Some  of  us 
are  very  foolish  indeed.  We  are  like  the  younger  son 
who  wanted  his  father  to  divide  his  substance  and  give 
him  a  good  share,  and  let  him  go  a  long  way  off  and  en- 
joy it.  You  know  what  he  came  to.  The  same  result 
would  befall  us  if  we  did  the  same  thing.  But  the  Lord 
is  too  wise.  He  won't  divide  His  substance.  He  won't 
let  you  go  a  long  way  off  and  enjoy  it.  You  would  soon 
come  to  grief,  and  want  to  come  back  to  your  Father's 
house.  The  Lord  Jesus  says:  "I  am  the  true  vine." 
Why  ;  that  is  the  root,  and  the  rootlets,  and  the  stem, 
and  the  trunk,  and  the  vine,  and  the  branches,  and  the 
leaves,  and  the  flowers,  and  the  fruit.  It  is  all  one  vine, 
and  there  is  nothing  outside  of  it.  And  if  you  want 
fruit-bearing,  there  is  no  fruit-bearing  outside  of  the 
living  Christ.  You  can  do  nothing  of  yourself.  You 
can  bear  no  fruit  of  yourself.  If  you  attempt  to  sever 
yourself  from  the  vine,  and  think  you  will  strike  out  a 
root  for  yourself,  you  will  be  disappointed.  You  know, 
young  vines  don't  bear  fruit,  and  the  object  isn't  to  fill 
the  vineyard  with  new  roots.  There  is  a  vine  in  the 
gardens  at  Kew,  that  bears  an  enormous  amount  of  fruit 


ABIDING   IN   CHRIST.  121 

— I  should  be  afraid  to  tell  you  how  much  it  bears — 
several  hundredweight.  It  is  all  one  vine.  If  you  were 
to  cut  one  of  the  branches  off,  you  wouldn't  find  it 
would  be  fruitful  like  the  original  vine.  It  would  re- 
quire years  of  growth  and  development  to  reach  that 
stage.  And  we  are  not  intended  for  growth  and  devel- 
opment separate  from  Jesus  ;  but  just  as  members  of 
the  true  vine  to  enjoy  our  all  in  Him.  Now  suppose 
that  I  should  take  a  piece  of  cord  and  tie  it  around  my 
finger  here,  and  say  :  "  Whatever  becomes  of  the  rest  of 
my  blood,  I  am  going  to  secure  a  fingerful  for  this 
finger."  Do  you  think  the  finger  would  thrive  ?  Why  ; 
it  would  turn  black,  and  it  would  swell,  and  it  would 
ache,  until  I  would  be  glad  to  get  the  cord  off  again.  If 
I  kept  it  on  too  long  it  would  spoil  the  finger  forever. 
God  doesn't  give  a  little  share  of  life  to  you  and  to  me. 
It  requires  all  the  blood  of  the  whole  body  to  keep  this 
one  finger.  The  heart  is  pumping  it  in  and  the  veins 
are  bringing  it  out,  and  all  the  life  in  my  body  is  at  the 
disposal  of  that  finger  to  keep  it  in  healthy  condition. 
And  the  finger  is  expected  to  co-operate  with  the  rest  of 
the  body,  toward  the  building  up  of  the  whole  frame. 
So  there  is  the  whole  Christ-life  in  the  believer.  We 
don't  come  to  Him  and  ask  Him  to  give  us  life,  for  that 
we  have  already.  If  we  are  not  in  Christ  we  have  no 
life  at  all.  If  we  are  in  Him  He  is  our  life.  "  When 
Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  Him" — be  manifested  with  Him  —  "in 
glory."     "  I  am  the  vine  " — the  whole  vine. 

Well,  this  is  very  good.  To  be  branches  of  that  vine 
is  indeed  a  source  of  rejoicing.  But  a  great  deal  de- 
pends upon  the  culture  of  the  vine.  You  see,  the 
branches  of  the  vine  cannot  go  walking,  and  seek  the 
sunshiny  places  ;   or  if  the  sun  is  very  hot,  seek   the 


122  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

shady  places.  It  can't  go  around  to  inspect  and  see  if 
the  soil  if  fat,  and  decide  that  it  will  live  here  or  there. 
They  are  united  to  the  vine  ;  and  as  to  their  particular 
position,  that  altogether  depends  upon  the  skill  of  the 
cultivator.  If  you  underprune  a  vine,  it  vi^on't  bear 
fruit  as  it  should  ;  and  if  you  overprune  it,  you  will 
prevent  its  proper  development.  And  here  is  an  import- 
ant thing  to  bear  in  mind  :  It  isn't  the  sap  that  comes 
out  of  the  root  that  builds  up  the  vine.  The  sap  that 
comes  out  of  the  root  is  a  very  thin  saline  fluid,  with  no 
carbon  in  it,  or  next  to  none.  There  is  nothing  in  it  at 
all  to  build  up.  But  it  circulates,  and  presses  up  until 
it  reaches  the  branches,  and  then  it  goes  into  the  twigs, 
and  then  into  the  leaves  ;  and  there  it  gives  out  in  the 
sunshine  a  good  deal  of  its  own  fluid,  and  while  it  is 
giving  out  it  is  taking  in.  There  is  no  taking  in  with- 
out giving  out.  If  you  think  you  can  stop  giving  out 
you  will  soon  cease  to  be  able  to  take  in,  and  then  you 
will  have  no  healthy  life.  While  the  sap  is  in  the  leaves 
it  is  taking  in  carbon  from  the  atmosphere  ;  and  a  rich, 
nourishing,  thick  sap  then  comes  back  through  the 
twigs  and  the  branches,  and  all  the  growth  is  in  the  re- 
turn circulation.  There  are  some  people,  indeed,  who 
are  very,  very  greedy.  They  are  spiritual  misers.  They 
come  to  conventions  like  this,  and  hear  sermons,  and 
try  to  get  all  the  benefit  out  of  them  they  can  for  them- 
selves, but  never  think  of  giving  it  out  again  to  others. 
The  natural  result  very  soon  follows.  Their  digestion 
becomes  clogged.  They  are  not  lightsome,  and  not 
happy.  The  circulation  isn't  keeping  up.  If  they  would 
only  go  back  and  give  out  what  they  have  gained,  the 
return  circulation  would  make  them  so  much  the  hap- 
pier and  richer.  The  whole  vine  would  grow  and  thrive. 
It  is  only  as  we  give  that  we  get.     Suppose  you  should 


ABIDING   IN   CHRIST.  I23 

see  a  stream  running  here  down  the  mountain  side,  and 
you  should  build  a  pond  or  tank  to  hold  it,  and  keep  it 
from  running  away.  Could  you  keep  it  there  as  living 
water  ?  As  soon  as  you  keep  it  there  it  ceases  to  be  liv- 
ing water,  and  begins  to  putrefy.  You  know  that  is  how 
it  is  with  the  Dead  Sea  in  Palestine.  The  water  is  all 
the  time  running  in,  but  it  doesn't  run  out  again,  or 
improve  the  surrounding  country  at  all.  There  is  a  day 
coming  when  there  will  be  a  channel  made — when  the 
water  will  burst  right  through  to  the  Gulf  of  Akabah. 
Then  the  water  of  the  Dead  Sea  will  become  alive,  and 
there  will  be  plenty  of  living  fishes  there,  and  a  totally 
different  state  of  things  brought  about.  Let  us  not  be 
satisfied  with  merely  taking  in  for  selfish  purposes,  but 
let  there  be  an  equivalent  giving  out.  This  is  one  of 
the  truths  taught  us  by  this  most  precious  verse  :  "  I 
am  the  true  vine,  and  My  Father  is  the  husbandman." 

"  Every  branch  in  Me  that  beareth  not  fruit.  He 
taketh  it  away  ;  and  every  branch  that  beareth  fruit, 
He  cleanseth  it,  that  it  may  bear  more  fruit."  I  am 
reading  from  the  Revised  Version  ;  and  there  is  an  ad- 
vantage here  in  the  Revised  Version,  because  it  renders 
the  same  word  the  same  way  in  this  and  in  the  next 
verse :  "  Already  ye  are  clean,  because  of  the  word 
which  I  have  spoken  unto  you."  Perhaps  some  of  us 
have  read  that  verse  in  the  old  version,  "  He  purgeth 
it";  and  we  have  thought  of  the  sharp  pruning-knife, 
and  rather  dreaded  the  operation  of  it.  We  have 
thought  it  meant,  perhaps,  the  cutting  away  of  the  right 
hand,  or  the  removal  of  our  dearest  friends  ;  and  we 
have  been  afraid  to  submit  ourselves  to  the  Lord  lest 
His  discipline  should  be  sharper  and  harder  than  we 
are  able  to  bear.  Why  ;  He  knows  what  we  are  able  to 
bear  better  than  we  do,  a  good  deal;  and  He  has  a  good 


124  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

deal  more  love  to  us  than  we  have  to  ourselves.  It  is 
safe  to  trust  Him  unreservedly.  The  word  used  here  is 
just  the  word  that  we  get  in  the  next  verse,  and  so  that 
explains  what  is  meant  here  :  "  He  cleanseth  every 
branch,  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit." 

Then  He  says  that  those  disciples  to  whom  He  was 
speaking  were  already  clean.  They  were  cleansed  be- 
cause of  the  word  which  Christ  had  spoken  to  them. 
Many  of  you  are  intending  to  be  preachers  of  the  Word. 
Be  careful  students  of  the  Bible.  Get  to  know  it  thor- 
oughly. "  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly 
in  all  wisdom."  Don't  study  the  Bible  to  find  texts  to 
preach  upon,  or  chapters  to  expound  ;  but  study  it  to 
find  something  that  will  feed  your  own  heart.  If  you 
do  this,  you  will  find  it  a  most  delightful  book,  and 
when  it  is  a  delight  to  you,  God  will  enable  you  to  make 
it  a  delight  to  others.  Let  us  go  to  the  Bible  to  feed 
ourselves,  and  not  to  feed  other  people,  and  then  we 
will  understand  how  to  feed  other  people  so  much  the 
better.  Let  us  first  take  the  learners'  class,  and  then 
we  will  be  able  to  teach.  Let  us  be  learners,  and  keep 
in  the  learners'  class  our  whole  life  long,  and  look  up  to 
the  gracious  Spirit,  who  delights  to  expound  to  us  the 
Word,  asking  Him  to  give  to  our  own  souls  a  fresh 
blessing,  that  we  may  bless  God  and  serve  our  genera- 
tion ;  then  we  shall  not  be  badly  equipped  as  teachers 
and  expounders  of  God's  holy  Word. 

Now,  it  is  by  this  word  that  the  disciples  to  whom 
Christ  spoke  were  clean.  "  Already  ye  are  clean  " — ye 
are  cleansed — "  because  of  the  word  which  I  have  spoken 
unto  you.  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  Oh,  precious 
words  !  What  a  privilege  thus  to  be  allowed  to  abide 
in  Him  !  And  what  a  blessed  thing  it  is  to  be  com- 
manded to  abide  in  Him  !     May  we  all  obey  !     May  our 


ABIDING  IN   CHRIST.  I25 

Dible-reading  this  morning  give  us  some  intelligence  on 
this  subject  of  abiding  !  Oh,  how  many  years  I  was  in 
the  dark  on  this  subject.  I  longed  to  abide  in  Christ ; 
but  I  didn't  know  what  abiding  was.  I  confounded  it 
altogether  ;  and  such  is  the  perversity  of  human  nature 
that  I  read  this  verse  many  thousand  times  and  never 
for  a  moment  saw  what  it  meant.  Now,  I  believe  most 
thoroughly  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  I  put 
them  to  the  test  and  they  don't  fail  me,  and  I  have  good 
reason  to  believe.  I  use  my  Bible  as  I  use  my  check- 
book in  the  bank — only  with  this  difference  :  I  have  to 
tear  a  leaf  out  every  time  I  cash  a  check,  and  can't  use 
it  a  second  time  ;  but  in  taking  from  this  book  I  can 
leave  the  leaf  in,  and  use  it  again  and  again.  It  is  a 
sort  of  circulating  letter,  you  know  ;  you  never  come  to 
the  end  of  it.  I  believe  most  thoroughly  in  the  verbal 
inspiration  of  Scripture.  If  you  put  it  under  a  micro- 
scope you  will  see  as  much  proof  of  its  Divine  origin  as 
in  the  structure  of  a  leaf.  I  am  not  going  to  give  you 
any  theory  as  to  how  it  was  brought  about ;  but  here  is 
the  book,  verbally  inspired,  and  you  may  rest  upon 
every  word  that  God  speaks  through  it.  Now — "Abide 
in  Me."  I  used  to  read  this,  and  I  will  tell  what  I  used 
to  get  out  of  it.  Instead  of  thinking  what  the  word 
"  abide  "  really  means,  I  thought  it  was  a  sort  of  hand- 
over-hand climbing — climbing  up  a  rope,  or  a  pole,  after 
the  manner  of  an  athlete.  I  used  to  feel  that  I  hadn't 
managed  this  climbing.  I  thought  abiding  in  Christ 
was  to  become  one  of  a  sort  of  spiritual  aristocracy, 
which  very  few  people  ever  could  attain  or  reach  to. 
"Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  The  Greek  word  that  is 
used  here  you  will  find  rendered  in  similar  passages  by 
the  word  "  to  dwell,"  or  by  the  word  "  to  remain  ";  and 
that  just  gives  us  the  meaning  of  the  word  "abiding." 


126  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

I  am  not  a  very  strong  man— I  may  not  be  able  to  pull 
myself  hand-over-hand  up  to  the  ceiling  here  ;  but  if  I 
am  sitting  in  a  chair,  it  doesn't  take  a  great  deal  of 
strength  to  remain  there.  Christ  says  :  "  I  am  the  vine  ; 
ye  are  the  branches."  You  see  where  you  are  ;  and  you 
can't  get  into  a  better  place,  and  you  are  never  out  of 
it.  There  is  an  all-important  point.  We  have  Christ 
Jesus  all  the  time.  "Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  I 
never  saw  this  until  God  was  pleased  to  show  it  to  me 
when  I  was  very,  very  needy — hungry  and  thirsty  for 
the  truth.  One  afternoon  in  an  inland  city  in  China, 
feeling  almost  in  spiritual  despair,  I  was  reading  my 
Greek  Testament ;  and  in  the  6th  chapter  of  St.  John's 
Gospel,  reading  in  course,  I  came  across  a  verse  which 
struck  me  as  it  had  never  done  before.  I  was  reading 
from  the  5 2d  verse  onward,  and  if  you  will  just  turn  to 
that  passage,  perhaps  the  train  of  thought  that  was  such 
a  help  to  me  may  help  some  one  else  here.  In  the  56th 
verse  :  "  He  that  eateth  My  flesh,  and  drinketh  My 
blood,  abideth  in  Me  and  I  in  him."  I  had  read  the 
verse  in  the  Authorized  Version,  "  dwelleth  in  Me,  and  I 
in  him,"  a  hundred  times  ;  and  never  connected  it  in 
mind  with  this  15th  chapter,  where  the  word  happens  to 
be  rendered  in  that  version,  "  abide  in  Me."  But  of 
course,  reading  it  in  the  original,  my  mind  was  carried 
on  by  the  verb  from  the  6th  to  the  15th  chapter,  and  I 
saw  at  once — why  !  here  is  a  little  light  on  this  great 
and  difficult  problem.  I  have  evidently  been  making  a 
mistake  about  this  subject  of  "  abiding  in  Christ."  I 
had  thought  that  abiding  in  Christ  meant  keeping  our 
hearts  so  fixed  upon  Christ — so  constantly  meditating 
upon  Him  and  dwelling  in  Him — that  we  never  lost  the 
consciousness  of  His  presence.  I  thought  we  were  con- 
tinually, so  to  speak,  to  realize  His  presence,  and  con- 


ABIDING   IN   CHRIST.  12/ 

tinually  to  look  to  Him  for  blessing  and  help  and  guid- 
ance. Now,  what  I  thought  was  abiding  I  have  since 
seen  was  feeding  upon  Christ.  Feeding  is  a  voluntary 
act.  We  go  to  the  table  and  sit  down,  and  partake  of 
what  is  there.  That  is  a  voluntary  act.  But  the  man 
who  wanted  to  feed  all  the  day,  and  wanted  to  feed  all 
the  night,  too,  wouldn't  be  a  desirable  member  of  any 
community.  This  was  what  I  was  trying  to  do,  and  be- 
cause I  couldn't  manage  it,  I  would  get  into  a  sort  of 
almost  religious  dyspepsia.  I  had  a  little  hospital  and 
dispensary  work  that  kept  me  busy.  Perhaps  a  man 
would  be  brought  into  the  place  with  an  artery  cut  and 
in  imminent  danger — within  half  an  hour  the  question 
whether  he  would  live  or  die  would  be  settled,  and  one's 
whole  attention  would  be  wrapped  up  in  the  patient, 
and  one  wouldn't  think  of  a  thing  else  until  the  result 
was  known  ;  and  then  the  thought  would  steal  over  me, 
"  Why,  for  two  hours  I  haven't  thought  about  Jesus  " — 
and  I  would  go  off  into  my  closet  almost  in  despair  and 
confess  this  sin.  I  was  in  very  great  distress  indeed.  I 
wanted  to  be  feeding  at  the  table  all  the  time.  Now,  if 
a  man  has  two  or  three  square  meals  every  day,  and 
perhaps  a  lunch  or  two  between,  he  ought  to  be  able  to 
go  to  work.  Abiding  in  Jesus  isn't  fixing  our  attention 
on  Christ,  but  it  is  being  one  with  Him.  And  it  doesn't 
make  any  difference  what  we  are  doing,  or  whether  we  are 
asleep  or  awake.  A  man  is  abiding  just  as  much  when 
he  is  sleeping  for  Jesus  as  when  he  is  awake  and  work- 
ing for  Jesus.  Oh,  it  is  a  very  sweet  thing  to  have  one's 
mind  just  resting  there.  About  ten  years  ago  the  Lord 
gave  me  a  very  great  blessing.  I  had  a  little  girlie  who 
had  a  crib  by  my  bedside,  and  about  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  her  nurse  came  tapping  at  the  door  to  give  this 
little  one  her  bath.     And  we  missionaries  who  are  so 


128  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

much  separated  from  our  children  do  so  delight  when 
we  are  with  them.  It  is  such  a  treat.  It  is  an  ordinary 
enjoyment  to  most  of  you,  but  it  is  a  very  great  treat  to 
us,  I  can  tell  you.  I  saw  my  little  girlie  asleep,  and  I 
gave  her  a  little  kiss.  She  woke  up  and  put  her  arms 
around  my  neck,  and  as  she  looked  up  to  me,  I  just 
looked  up  to  God  and  said  :  "  O  Lord,  wake  me  up 
morning  by  morning  with  a  kiss  of  love.  Let  that  kiss 
be  the  first  thing  every  morning."  That  was  fully  ten 
years  ago,  and  He  hasn't  forgotten  it  since.  It  is  a 
wonderful  ''  good-morning."  I  am  so  glad  that  my  love 
for  my  little  girl  just  led  me  to  make  that  prayer  in  that 
way.  When  you  ask  for  a  thing,  look  for  it.  We  so 
frequently  ask  for  things  and  don't  expect  to  get  them, 
and  of  course  we  are  like  Mr.  Spurgeon's  student.  One 
of  Spurgeon's  students  said  to  him  :  "  I  am  afraid  I 
have  mistaken  my  calling,  and  that  the  ministry  really 
isn't  my  proper  work."  "  Why,"  said  Spurgeon  ;  "  what 
is  the  reason  you  have  come  to  that  conclusion  ? " 
"  Well  ;  I  have  been  working  in  such  a  place  for  such 
and  such  a  time,  and  I  don't  seem  to  have  accomplished 
much."  "  Why,  man  alive  !  You  didn't  expect  that 
every  time  you  preached  a  sermon  somebody  would  be 
converted,  did  you  ?"  "No;  of  course  I  didn't  expect 
that."  "Well,  you  don't  get  it  then."  Expect  results 
and  you  will  find  them. 

Now,  as  to  this  abiding  in  Christ  :  I  don't  say  that  to 
eat  or  to  drink  is  to  abide.  It  wasn't  the  act  of  eating 
that  was  the  abiding.  It  doesn't  say  :  "  While  you  eat 
you  are  abiding."  It  says  (such  is  the  meaning  of  the 
original)  :  "He  who  habitually  does  eat  and  drink  My 
blood  is  abiding."  When  I  realized  this,  I  thought : 
"There  is  something  tangible,  I  know  I  do  delight  in 
God's  love.     When  I  get  a  little  measure  of  it  I  know  I 


ABIDING  IN  CHRIST.  1 29 

turn  to  it  with  more  enjoyment.  I  do  feed  upon  Him, 
however  faulty  my  poor  life  may  be.  And  whoever 
does  that,  He  says,  is  abiding.  But  am  I  quite  sure  that 
this  is  the  feeding  that  always  follows  regeneration  ?  " 
Then  I  looked  back  and  read  :  "  Except  ye  eat  of  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  yourselves"  —  "you  have  no  life  at  all." 
"  Well,"  I  thought ;  "  it  is  quite  evident  that  every  true 
believer  has  fed  upon  Him  some  time  or  other.  This 
feeding  upon  Christ  is  not  a  privilege  or  attainment  of 
a  spiritual  aristocracy — of  some  very  few  of  God's 
children  ;  but  it  is  what  every  one  of  God's  cliildren 
has  done.  If  I  have  fed  upon  Christ  I  am  abiding  in 
Him,  and  I  am  to  continue  to  feed  in  order  that  I  may 
grow. 

"Well,  then,"  I  thought ;  "there  is  another  difficulty. 
If  that  is  the  case,  I  have  been  feeding,  and  yet  all  the 
fruits  of  abiding  have  not  been  found.  We  are  told 
that  if  we  abide  we  will  have  all  our  prayers  answered, 
and  my  prayers  are  not  all  answered."  I  remembered 
the  words  in  the  first  Epistle  of  John  :  "He  that  saith 
he  abideth  in  Him,  ought  himself  so  to  walk  even  as 
He  walked."  If  I  abide  in  Him  I  will  walk  as  He 
walked,  and  I  don't  walk  that  way  ;  and  there  are  other 
things  predicated  of  those  who  walk  with  Christ  that  I 
don't  find  in  my  life  ;  and  yet  I  have  been  feeding." 
Then  I  thought :  "  Well ;  God  may  have  given  us  a 
good  deal,  and  we  have  used  very  little  of  it.  There 
has  been  a  large  amount  of  capital  at  our  disposal,  and 
we  have  either  not  known  it  or  not  availed  ourselves  of 
it."  And  I  saw  that  the  promises  in  connection  with 
abiding  in  Christ  were  to  be  claimed  by  faith,  and  I  just 
held  the  Lord  to  His  word,  I  didn't  feel  any  change 
taking  place  in  myself,  but  I  said  :  "  Thou  dost  say  that 


I30  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

he  who  does  feed  is  abiding  ;  and  I  accept  that  state- 
ment. Now,  Lord,  let  the  fruits  of  abiding  appear." 
Since  that  day  they  have  appeared  as  they  never  ap- 
peared before  ;  and  I  have  had  a  joy  in  Christ,  and  a 
strength,  and  a  delight,  and  a  blessing,  to  which  I  was 
a  stranger  before.  It  hasn't  been  ebbing  and  flowing 
as  it  used  to  be — coming  and  going  as  it  used  to  be  ; 
but  it  has  been  a  deepening  joy — constantly  deepening. 
God's  Word  has  been  very  precious  to  me  as  it  never 
was  before.  It  was  precious  before,  but  it  is  far  more 
precious  now.  God's  service  is  sweeter  now  than  it 
used  to  be.  It  was  very  often  sweet  before,  but  not  al- 
ways ;  it  is  always  very  sweet  now,  and  I  get  those  fruits 
for  which  I  was  seeking.  Accept  Christ's  statement, 
and  claim  it  for  yourself,  and  see  if  you  are  not  brought 
into  this  enjoyment  and  blessing. 

Now  let  us,  with  these  thoughts  in  our  minds,  turn 
back  again  to  this  15th  chapter  from  which  we  have 
started.  "Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  This  is  rather 
a  difficult  sentence  to  construe.  You  know  it  is  some- 
times paraphrased  :  "  If  ye  abide  in  Me,  I  will  abide  in 
you."  But  there  is  no  "  if  "  there.  It  is  just,  "  Abide  in 
Me,  and  I  in  you."  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ex- 
pression ?  I  think  there  is  a  double  meaning  in  it.  If 
we  turn  to  the  14th  chapter  we  may  perhaps  find  a  little 
illustration  that  will  hplp  us  to  grasp  the  meaning.  In 
that  chapter  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  speaking  to  Philip 
says  :  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  hast 
thou  not  known  Me,  Philip  ?  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath 
seen  the  Father  ;  and  how  sayest  thou  then.  Show  us 
the  Father?  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  in  Me?"  There  was  a  mutual  indwell- 
ing—"  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me."  And 
the  idea  there,  is  not  at  all  the  idea  of  the  greater  con- 


ABIDING  IN  CHRIST.  I31 

taining  the  less,  because  you  see  it  is  mutual.  It  isn't 
mutual  that  we  are  in  this  room.  We  are  in  this  hall, 
but  the  hall  is  not  in  us.  The  hall  is  bigger  than  us, 
and  couldn't  be  in  us.  That  is  clearly  not  the  idea.  If 
you  were  to  take  a  glass  of  wine  and  a  glass  of  water, 
and  pour  them  together,  the  water  would  be  in  the  wine, 
wouldn't  it  ? — and  the  wine  would  be  in  the  water. 
There  would  be  such  a  thorough  commingling  that  you 
couldn't  get  a  drop  of  the  water  without  the  wine 
flavoring  it,  and  you  couldn't  get  a  drop  of  the  wine 
without  the  water  tempering  it.  The  idea  is  that  they 
are  so  thoroughly  one  that  they  are  inseparable  ;  and 
"  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you,"  as  I  understand  it,  is  like 
one  of  those  algebraic  symbols  we  sometimes  use  in 
which  we  put  a  compound  quantity  within  brackets  and 
put  one  figure  or  mark  outside  to  govern  the  whole.  It 
is  as  if  Christ  said  :  "  You  abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you. 
Live  in  the  continual  recognition  of  this  fact,  that  we 
are  no  longer  two,  but  one  ;  that  we  are  united  together  ; 
that  I  am  dwelling  in  you  and  you  are  dwelling  in  Me, 
and  that  we  are  in  this  way  really  one."  Abiding  in 
Christ  is  keeping  in  the  consciousness  of  our  union  with 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — going  forth  in  service  never 
thinking  of  what  we  are  in  ourselves,  but  realizing  what 
Christ  is  in  us,  and  expecting  to  find  Divine  resources 
to  operate  wherever  the  Divine  Spirit  leads  us.  Now, 
when  this  is  realized  it  takes  away  all  anxiety  ;  it  takes 
away  all  carefulness.  There  is  no  fear  of  failure.  The 
service  will  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord  which  is  carried 
on  in  this  spirit  of  realized  union  v/ith  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Temptations  flee  before  one  who  has  realized 
the  joy  of  abiding  in  Christ.  "Ah,"  says  he  ;  "I  have 
fallen  a  thousand  times  before  that  temptation  ;  but 
now,  thank  God,  I  don't  meet  it  in  myself.     I  am  in 


132  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

Christ,  and  He  is  in  me,  and  when  I  meet  temptation 
He  carries  me  through  and  gives  me  the  victory."  The 
Lord  our  God  is  a  mighty  one.  He  will  save  ;  and  when 
He  wills  to  save,  who  is  going  to  hinder  Him  doing  it? 
It  is  so  blessed  to  know  this  union  in  Christ.  And  may 
I  draw  your  attention  again  to  that  passage  in  the  6li. 
chapter  as  illustrating  by  the  use  of  food  a  deep  spirit- 
ual truth,  because  it  has  been  very  helpful  to  me,  and 
may  be  more  to  you.  What  is  natural  food  to  the 
natural  body  ?  Let  us  go  to  the  insignificant  life  you 
hold  in  your  hands — a  little  babe,  say  a  week  old.  It  is 
not  very  long  ;  it  weighs  perhaps  seven  or  eight,  or  it 
may  be  ten  pounds  ;  and  you  say,  "  What  a  little  dar- 
ling !  "  It  is  very  light  on  your  arm,  and  you  look  at 
its  little  fingers,  and  they  are  very  puny  indeed — they 
can't  grasp  anything  yet.  You  look  at  the  little  eye  ;  it 
is  very  pretty  indeed,  but  it  can't  see — the  eye  hasn't 
learned  to  see  yet.  Put  anything  in  the  little  hand  and 
it  lets  it  drop.  That  little  infant,  how  weak  !  How  lit- 
tle it  is,  and  yet  there  is  perfect  life  there.  Perfect  life, 
but  how  immature  !  Go  and  see  that  child  three  months 
afterwards,  and  the  little  hand  can  grasp,  and  the  little 
eye  can  look  with  intelligence,  and  mamma  is  recognized 
when  she  comes  along  ;  and  it  may  be  when  it  looks  at 
you,  a  stranger,  the  eye  is  not  so  bright  because  it  is  al- 
ready beginning  to  be  afraid  of  strangers.  It  is  begin- 
ning to  develop.  Go  and  see  it  three  years  afterwards, 
and  you  see  a  strong  and  healthy  child,  with  a  great  in- 
crease of  weight.  Where  has  the  increase  of  weight 
come  from  ?  It  is  all  assimilated  food — at  first  milk, 
then  bread,  and  then  other  suitable  nourishment.  This 
food  is  something  totally  distinct  from  the  body  of  that 
child — outside  of  it  and  separate  from  it ;  and  yet  as  it 
has  been  taken  into  the  body  it  has  been  digested  and 
assimilated,  and  has  become  hair,  and  brains,  and  flesh. 


ABIDING   IN   CHRIST.  1 33 

and  nerve,  and  muscle.  Through  that  assimilated  food 
the  child  is  now  thinking,  seeing,  grasping.  By  con- 
tinuing to  take  food  it  will  continue  to  grow  till  it  be- 
comes a  healthy  man  or  a  healthy  woman.  So  thor- 
oughly has  the  food  become  assimilated  and  become 
part  and  parcel  of  the  man  that  you  can't  go  and  pick 
that  man  to  pieces  and  make  a  babe  of  him  again.  No 
separation  can  take  place.  Now,  if  you  are  feeding 
upon  Christ — if  you  are  dwelling  with  Christ,  continu- 
ally feeding  upon  Him,  you  will  grow  up  into  Him 
your  living  Head,  and  He  will  become  your  power  and 
strength,  and  there  will  be  a  blessed  union,  and  there 
will  be  no  separation. 

But  I  must  close.  In  speaking  upon  this  interesting 
chapter  it  is  difficult  to  know  where  to  break  off,  it 
would  be  so  easy  to  dwell  all  day  upon  any  part  of  it. 
Just  one  word  further.  Only  abide  in  Christ  and  you 
will  bear  fruit.  You  can't  bear  fruit  if  you  are  not 
abiding.  Don't  imagine  that  abiding  in  Christ  is  a 
question  of  a  little  more  or  a  little  less — of  being  a  little 
more  perfect  or  a  little  less  perfect.  "  Apart  from  Me 
you  can  do  nothing."  You  can  do  any  amount  of  work, 
but  you  can  bear  no  fruit.  Fruit-bearing  is  the  result 
of  abiding  in  Christ.  Abiding  in  Christ,  your  prayers 
will  not  some  of  them  be  answered,  but  all  of  them  will 
be  answered.  Oh,  it  is  such  a  blessed  thing  to  know- 
that  there  is  a  day  coming  when  every  secret  thing  will 
be  laid  bare.  In  that  day  when  every  hidden  thing  will 
be  revealed,  there  won't  be  one  single  instance  brought 
to  light  of  the  prayer  of  one  abiding  in  Christ  that 
hasn't  been  answered.  Not  one  single  instance  !  God 
will  fulfil  His  promises.  Don't  think  about  your  faith, 
or  you  will  become  despondent ;  but  think  about  God's 
faithfulness,  and  you  will  not  be  disappointed.  He  is 
faithful.     May  we  abide  in  Him  evermore  ! 


CHAPTER   IX. 

JUSTIFICATION    BY    FAITH. 

Adcjress  by  the  Rev.  John  A.  Broadus,  D.D.,  of  Louisville— An 
Analysis  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans— Deplorable  State  of  Un- 
regenerate  Man— His  Helplessness— Divine  Wisdom  Provides  a 
Means  of  Rescue— Relation  of  Justification  to  Sanctification— 
How  Sin  can  be  Vanquished— Glorious  Privileges  of  the  Re- 
deemed. 

The  theme  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  justifica- 
tion by  faith.  This  theme  is  stated  in  chapter  i.  i6,  17. 
The  Apostle  declares  that  he  is  ready  to  preach  the 
Gospel  at  Rome — "  for  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ :  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to 
every  one  that  believeth For  therein  is  the  right- 
eousness of  God  revealed  from  faith  to  faith."  We  need 
not  stop  to  discuss  the  exact  history  of  this  term  "  right- 
eousness," and  its  various  uses.  Suffice  it  to  say  at 
present  that  the  Gospel  reveals  justification  by  faith, 
and  that  makes  it  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

The  first  section  of  the  Epistle,  following  this  state- 
ment of  its  theme,  is  from  i.  18  to  iii.  20,  in  which  the 
Apostle  shows  a  necessity  for  justification  by  faith,  as 
grounded  in  the  guilty  and  condemned  state  of  all  men, 
Jews  and  Gentiles.  He  shows  this  first  in  regard  to  the 
Gentiles — or,  as  we  should  say,  the  heathen — and  always 
combines  them  with  the  Jews  in  the  universal  conclu- 
sion. Notice  in  i.  18  :  "  For  the  wrath  of  God  is  re- 
vealed from  Heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and  unright- 
(134) 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  1 35 

eousness  of  men,  who  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness." 
This  declares  that  all  men  do  have  truth,  or  have  means 
of  knowing  truth,  concerning  God.  And  he  proceeds 
to  show  that  this  is  so  in  regard  to  the  heathen,  "  be- 
cause— ."  Observe  how  frequently  here  the  Apostle 
says  "for"  or  "because."  In  general  I  am  willing  to 
make  this  compact  with  you  :  If  you  will  understand 
every  conjunction  in  the  Apostle  Paul's  writings,  I  will 
be  security  for  your  understanding  all  the  rest.  His 
favorite  conjunctions  are  "for,"  or  "because,"  and 
"  therefore."  Look  out  for  them.  Now,  the  reason 
why  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  against  men  is  "  Be- 
cause that  which  may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  in 
them."  And  the  proof  or  explanation  of  this  is — in 
verse  20  :  "  For  the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood 
by  the  things  which  are  made."  Ever  since  the  creation 
existed  it  has  been  possible  for  intelligent  beings  to 
know  from  the  creation  much  about  the  Creator.  And 
the  special  statement  here  added  is  :  "  Even  His  eternal 
power  and  Godhead."  He  doesn't  say  that  men  might 
know  His  Divine  holiness  or  mercy,  but  that  they  might 
know  from  the  creation  His  almightiness  and  deity. 
And  the  consequence  is,  as  he  adds,  that  the  heathen 
are  without  excuse,  because  (verse  40)  "  when  they  knew 
God  they  glorified  Him  not  as  God,  neither  were  thank- 
ful." They  didn't  live  up  to  the  knowledge  they  pos- 
sessed, but  they  corrupted  that  knowledge  by  vain  imag- 
inations— foolish  speculations  concerning  God.  They 
devised  idolatry,  imagining  that  it  would  be  a  help  in 
worshipping  God,  but  really  thereby  changing  the  glory 
of  the  incorruptible  God  into  images — not  merely  im- 
ages of  man,  but  of  the  lower  animals,  even  of  reptiles, 
30  low  did  idolatry  gradually  sink.     Now,  notice  what 


136  COLLEGE    STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

he  says  in  verse  24  :  "  Wherefore,  God  also  gave  them 
up  to"  immorality,  because  they  gave  Him  up,  and 
turned  from  worshipping  Him  according  to  the  knowl- 
edge they  might  have  had,  unto  the  mere  worship  of 
idols.  "  He  gave  them  up."  Observe  that  this  is  three 
times  stated.  Verse  24  :  "  God  also  gave  them  up  to 
uncleanness  ....  who  changed  the  truth  of  God  into 
a  lie,  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature  more  than 
the  Creator."  And  again,  verse  26  :  "  God  gave  them 
up  unto  vile  affections."  And  verse  28  :  "And  even  as 
they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God 
gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind."  Three  times 
over  it  is  thus  declared  that  because  they  abandoned 
God  and  plunged  into  idolatry.  He  gave  them  up  to 
vile  immorality.  Such  is  the  dark  and  sad  history  of 
the  heathen  world.  And  observe,  a  little  later,  when 
He  is  speaking  of  the  Jews — in  chapter  ii.  12  and  fol- 
lowing— He  declares  that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  stand 
guilty  and  condemned  in  God's  sight — "For  as  many  as 
have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  perish  without  law  : 
and  as  many  as  have  sinned  in  the  law  shall  be  judged 
by  the  law."  Some  might  have  said  :  "  We  can  see  how 
those  who  have  the  law  and  don't  keep  it  shall  be  con- 
demned ;  but  how  can  the  heathen  be  condemned  who 
have  no  law  ? "  The  Apostle  answers  :  "  They  have  a 
law — a  law  written  in  their  hearts,  or  their  own  moral 
nature."  Whenever  they  do  by  nature  the  things  con- 
tained in  the  law — as,  for  instance,  when  they  reverence 
parents  ;  when  they  condemn  and  abstain  from  anything 
as  being  wrong — they  thereby  show  that  they  possess  a 
moral  nature.  And  this  is  practically  a  moral  law,  writ- 
ten in  themselves,  and  for  the  violation  of  which  they 
stand  condemned.  Oh,  the  majesty  of  this  human  sense 
of   moral   obligation  !      Oh,   the   dignity   of   the   word 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  1 37 

''  ought " — "  I  ought  to  do  this,"  and  ''  I  ought  to  do 
that."  The  lowest  animals  show  some  intelligence — 
even  a  rudimentary  reasoning  and  planning  ;  but  they 
show  no  sense  of  feeling  moral  obligation.  Now,  the 
question  is  sometimes  asked,  whether  Gentiles  who  con- 
form to  this  law  written  in  their  hearts  are  thereby  jus- 
tified. It  is  enough  to  answer  at  the  moment  that  the 
Apostle  presents  all  this,  not  as  a  ground  for  their  justi- 
fication, but  as  explaining  their  condemnation  and  vin- 
dicating it. 

Pass  on,  then,  through  this  chapter  and  the  3d.  Ob- 
serve where  }n  iii.  10  he  makes  a  mournful  mosaic  of 
solemn  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  to  show  the 
universal  sinfulness  of  men.  Verse  19  :  "  That  every 
mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  may  become 
guilty  before  God  " — the  heathen  guilty  and  the  Jews 
guilty.  None  of  them  have  any  power  to  effect  justifi- 
cation by  their  own  doings.  And  this  is  his  general  con- 
clusion in  verse  20  :  ''  Therefore  by  the  deeds  of  the 
law  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  His  sight :  for  by 
the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  But  here  he  throws 
out,  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the  Apostle,  a  thought 
to  be  hereafter  developed  :  The  law  does  not  deliver 
from  sin.  It  only  makes  us  more  vividly  conscious  of 
sin.  Such,  then,  are  the  thoughts  of  this  first  section. 
Justification  by  faith  is  shown  to  be  necessary  by  the 
fact  that  all  mankind — heathen  and  Jews — stand  guilty 
and  condemned  in  God's  sight  by  their  own  works  :  by 
keeping  the  law  of  Moses,  or  the  law  written  on  the 
heart,  that  can  never  secure  justification. 

The  next  section  is  the  remainder  of  this  3d  chapter 
— verses  21-31.  Here  the  Apostle  declares  that  the  Gos- 
pel sets  forth  the  Divine  provision  for  justification  :  the 
righteousness  of  God  which  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 


138  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT    NORTHFIELD. 

and  which  is  unto  all  them  that  believe — unto  all  men, 
whether  Jews  or  Gentiles.  "  For  all  have  sinned,"  and 
men  of  every  class  can  be  justified  only  by  faith  in 
Christ.  Notice  how  strong  is  his  expression  :  "  being 
justified  freely  " — that  is,  gratis,  without  merit  of  any 
kind — "  by  this  grace  " ;  yet  not  without  ground,  for  they 
are  justified  "  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus."  And  this  redemption — this  propitiation  by  His 
blood — not  only  furnishes  the  ground  of  forgiveness  for 
men  who  believe  in  it,  but  it  furnishes  an  explanation  of 
God's  having  heretofore  passed  over  the  sins  of  men, 
instead  of  smiting  them  with  utter  destruction.  The 
word  "remission  "  in  verse  25  is  a  wrong  translation.  It 
should  be  rather  "pretermission";  or,  as  in  the  original 
and  in  the  Revised  Version,  "passing  over."  How 
could  it  be  right  for  the  just  God  so  long  to  pass  over 
the  sins  of  men,  and  let  the  guilty  race  live  on  in  suc- 
cessive ages  ?  The  work  of  Christ  explains  this  Divine 
forbearance,  and  offers  the  ground  of  present  salvation 
to  those  who  believe.  And  see  the  conclusion  in  verse 
26  :  "That  He  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  Him 
which  believeth  in  Jesus  " — that  He  might  be  just  while 
justifying,  because  He  justifies  without  ground  in  us, 
but  with  ample  ground  in  the  redemption,  the  propitia- 
tion, that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

The  next  section  is  chapters  iv.  and  v.,  in  which  the 
Apostle  gives  further  illustration  and  proof  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith.  Chapter  iv.  refers  to  Abraham.  He  says 
that  Abraham  was  justified  by  faith.  The  Jews  derived 
all  their  hopes  from  Abraham,  and  took  pride  in  their 
descent  from  him  ;  and  yet  they  were  clinging  to  the 
notion  that  they  were  to  be  justified  in  keeping  the  law. 
Abraham,  says  the  Apostle,  was  justified  by  faith.  He 
was  not  justified  by  being  circumcised.  He  was  justified 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  1 39 

before  circumcision,  and  the  circumcision  was  given  him 
as  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  justification  he  had  already  re- 
ceived. The  Scripture  expressly  declares  that  Abraham 
was  justified  on  the  ground  of  believing,  and  it  was  ac- 
counted to  him  for  righteousness.  If  his  belief  was 
accounted  to  him  for  righteousness,  he  was  justified  by 
faith.  Ah,  that  seemed  to  the  Jews,  I  suppose,  like  up- 
turning the  very  foundations  of  the  solid  earth — to  say 
that  Abraham  himself  was  justified  by  believing.  The 
Apostle  proves  it,  you  see.  He  proves  it  out  of  Genesis, 
and  goes  on  to  explain  it  through  the  chapter. 

In  chapter  v.,  verses  i-ii,  he  sets  forth  in  a  general 
way  the  blessed  results  of  justification  by  faith.  We 
have  peace  with  God,  and  access  into  the  possession  of 
grace  —  favor  in  God's  sight — rejoicing  in  the  hope 
of  the  glory  of  God.  Not  only  so,  but  we  glory  in 
tribulations  also,  because  to  a  Christian — one  who  is 
justified  by  faith — tribulations  will  be  made  a  blessing. 
"  Tribulation  worketh  patience  " —  not  necessarily  by 
any  natural  law.  We  talk  about  the  furnace  of  afflic- 
tion. Put  clay  into  a  furnace  that  has  some  impurities 
— does  it  come  out  purified  ?  It  comes  out  with  the  im- 
purities burned  in  so  that  you  never  can  get  them  out 
afterward.  Put  gold  into  the  furnace,  and  let  it  stay 
there  long  enough  ;  it  will  come  out  purified.  Tribula- 
tion doesn't  work  patience  through  natural  law.  "  Trib- 
ulation worketh  patience  "  in  the  believer  through  the 
work  of  God.  It  is  a  remarkable  thing  that  three  of  the 
Apostles  have  set  forth  the  same  idea  on  this  subject; 
and  it  was  a  brand-new  idea  in  the  world.  When  the 
liberties  of  Greece  had  perished — when  Rome  had  be- 
come a  great  iron  machine  that  ruled  the  world — there 
was  much  speculation  among  men  as  to  how  a  man  had 
best  try  to  live  in  evil  tiroes  ;  and  there  were  two  great 


140  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

schools  of  opinion  that  arose — the  Epicureans  and  the 
Stoics.  Paul  met  them  both  in  the  agora  at  Athens. 
The  Epicureans  said  :  ''  We  don't  know  whether  there 
are  any  gods,  and  if  there  are,  we  don't  know  that  they 
care  anything  about  us.  This  world  is  full  of  trials. 
The  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  have  a  good  time  and 
enjoy  yourself."  That  was  the  teaching;  but  the  fol- 
lowers of  Epicurus  ran  it  down  at  the  heel  in  a  fright- 
ful fashion.  The  Stoics  said  :  "  There  are  trials  in  life  ? 
— yes.  But  let  me  live  myself  in  all  life's  trials  to  fight 
and  conquer."  The  sublimest  spectacle  in  human  ex- 
istence is  that  of  a  good  man  struggling  against  fate- 
vainly  struggling,  and  struggling  well.  And  some  of 
the  grandest  of  the  Romans  took  up  that  idea— Marcus 
Antoninus,  for  example.  A  grand  idea  it  was  for  men 
that  were  grand  enough  in  their  make-up  to  believe  in 
it  and  practise  it.  That  was  the  option  that  men  had 
offered  them  :  either  the  Epicurean  advice — "  Take  it 
easy,  and  have  a  good  time  if  you  can  get  it";  or  the 
Stoic  notion  of  struggling  against  fate,  "  and  if  you 
can't  conquer,  you  can  kill  yourself,  at  least,  like  a 
Roman  and  a  man."  Into  the  midst  of  this  uncertainty 
a  new  note  sounds  out :  that  the  trials  of  life  by  the 
grace  of  God  may  make  us  better.  You  have  it  three 
times  in  three  of  the  Epistles.  Here  we  have  it  in  the 
beginning  of  this  5th  chapter  of  Romans.  Turn  to 
James  i.  i,  2  :  "  My  brethren,  count  it  all  joy  when  ye 
fall  into  divers  temptations."  "  Temptations  and  trials  " 
— it  takes  both  of  these  in  English  ears  to  express  the 
idea  here.  *'  Knowing  this,  that  the  trying  of  your  faith 
worketh  patience.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect 
work,  that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  noth- 
ing." Notice  :  the  Epistle  of  James  actually  declares 
that  if  a  man  has  perfect  patience,  he  has  a  perfect  char- 


JUSTIFICATION  BY   FAITH.  I41 

acter.  I  wish  I  had  a  voice  that  could  ring  over  our 
run-mad  country,  in  this  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  men  are  tumbling  over  each  other,  rushing  after 
nothing  and  finding  it.  I  would  like  to  proclaim  this 
lesson  :  Whoever  has  perfect  patience  has  a  perfect 
character.  And  the  trials  of  life  by  God's  grace  pro- 
mote patience.  Look  now  at  i  Peter  i.  6,  7  :  "  Wherein 
ye  greatly  rejoice,  though  now  for  a  season,  if  need  be, 
ye  are  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temptations  :  that 
the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more  precious  than 
of  gold  which  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  with  fire, 
might  be  found  unto  praise  and  honor  and  glory  at  the 
appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  James  and  Paul  and  Peter 
— all  three — set  forth  this  new,  strange,  blessed  thought: 
that  the  trials  of  life  by  God's  grace  may  make  us 
better.  I  can  say  no  more  about  this  section  of  Romans 
— chapters  iv,  and  v.  i-ii — although  there  are  in  it 
many  delightful  thoughts  that  I  would  like  to  dwell 
upon.  Let  us  examine  the  remainder  of  this  chapter — 
verses  12-21.  The  Apostle  has  been  setting  forth  that 
justification  by  faith  existed  in  the  case  of  Abraham. 
He  here  declares  that  justification  by  faith  in  the  one 
Redeemer  may  be  compared  to  the  effect  of  Adam's  sin 
upon  his  posterity.  As  Adam's  sin  involved  all  his  pos- 
terity, so  there  need  be  no  difficulty  in  believing  that 
Christ's  work  in  salvation  may  bring  blessing  to  all  that 
believe  in  Him.  The  Jews  were  familiar  with  the  idea 
that  Adam's  sin  involved  all  his  posterity.  It  is  taught 
in  som.e  of  the  early  books  of  the  Talmud.  Taking  that 
as  an  illustration,  the  Apostle  uses  it,  and  says  :  "  You 
needn't  think  it  strange  that  the  work  of  the  one  Re- 
deemer may  bring  blessing  to  many,  when  you  remem- 
ber that  the  guilty  sin  of  Adam  brought  ruin  upon  all 
his  posterity." 


142  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

We  thus  find  that  chapters  i.  to  v.  give  the  Apostle's 
whole  discussion  as  to  the  necessity  for  justification  by 
faith,  with  the  proofs  that  it  exists  and  some  of  its  bless- 
ed results.  Now  we  meet  an  entirely  new  section  of 
the  Epistle — chapters  vi.  to  viii.  Here  the  Apostle  pre- 
sents the  bearing  of  justification  by  faith  upon  the  work 
of  sanctification — the  work  of  making  men  personally 
holy.  Many  were  ready  to  say,  as  many  say  now,  that  a 
provision  for  justification  by  faith  by  mere  believing  in 
Christ  will  encourage  men  to  live  on  in  sin.  We  will 
sometimes  hear  a  moral  man  complaining  that  accord- 
ing to  our  teachings  some  wretched  criminal  or  vilely 
wicked  person  may  be  forgiven  and  saved  by  simply  be- 
lieving, while  he,  forsooth,  with  all  his  moral  propriety 
may  be  condemned.  There  were  such  persons  in  Paul's 
time.  The  trouble  with  them  was  and  is,  a  failure  to 
understand  what  a  real  and  mighty  thing  is  believing  in 
God — believing  in  Christ.  And  the  Apostle,  at  the  out- 
set of  this  section,  shows  the  absurdity  of  supposing 
that  justification  by  faith  will  encourage  men  to  live  in 
sin.  He  does  this  by  three  illustrations— arguments 
from  analogy.  First,  in  chapter  vi.,  verses  3  to  14,  he 
says  that  if  men  are  believers  they  are  dead  to  sin,  and 
risen  to  live  a  new  life.  That  doesn't  look  like  en- 
couraging them  to  live  on  in  the  old  life.  The  second 
image  is  in  verses  15  to  23  :  If  a  man  is  a  believer,  he  has 
ceased  to  be  a  slave  to  sin,  and  become  a  slave,  so  to 
speak,  to  holiness — a  servant  of  God — and  all  his  present 
work  is  for  the  new  Master,  and  not  for  the  old.  The 
third  image  is  in  chapter  vii.,  verses  i  to  6  :  If  a  man  is 
a  believer,  he  is  like  a  woman  whose  husband  died, 
and  who  is  now  married  to  a  new  husband.  The  fruit 
of  this  union  will  be  the  children  of  the  new  husband, 
and  not  at  all  of  the  old.     So,  then,  it  means  much  to 


JUSTIFICATION  BY   FAITH.  I43 

be  a  believer.  It  means  as  great  a  change  in  a  man's 
relations  to  sin,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  to 
holiness  in  God's  service,  as  is  involved  in  the  idea  of 
being  dead  and  risen  again — of  being  transferred  from 
one  master  to  another,  or  from  one  husband  to  another. 
It  is  thus  absurd  to  say  that  justification  by  faith  will 
encourage  men  to  live  on  in  sin,  for  really  believing  in 
Christ  involves  a  very  great  change  in  a  man's  whole 
relations  to  sin  and  holiness.  The  Apostle  next  passes 
to  show  in  chapter  vii.  7-25,  what  is  the  best  that  the 
law  can  do  towards  making  a  man  holy.  We  cannot 
here  give  all  the  details,  but  the  main  points  are  not 
numerous.  First,  the  law  makes  us  conscious  of  sin. 
He  says  :  *'  I  had  not  known  sin  but  through  the  law  ; 
as,  for  example,  J  had  not  known  coveting  except 
through  the  law  that  said,  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet.'  But 
that  commandment  not  only  made  me  conscious  of  my 
departures  from  its  requirement,  but — ."  He  immedi- 
ately adds  that  it  did  something  terrible  :  "  But  sin, 
taking  occasion  by  the  commandment,  wrought  in  me 
all  manner  of  coveting."  The  restraints  which  God's 
law  imposes  actually  stimulate  man's  sinful  propensi- 
ties. That  is  a  solemn  and  awful  fact  of  human  nature. 
You  can  see  it  in  a  little  child.  When  the  parent  says, 
"You  shall  not  dp  this,"  the  child  is  thereby  excited  to 
greater  desire — so  reluctant  is  human  nature  to  be  re- 
strained by  authority.  In  like  manner,  God's  law,  in- 
stead of  keeping  men  from  doing  wrong,  stimulates 
them  to  do  worse.  Yet  this  does  not  show  the  law  to 
be  evil,  or  defective — for  the  law  is  holy  and  just  and 
good.  It  only  shows  what  a  bad  thing  sin  is,  that  it 
should  actually  seize  upon  the  holy  law  of  God,  which 
ought  to  restrain,  and  make  it  an  occasion  of  still  greater 
wrong-doing.     To  this  the  Apostle  adds  that  there  is  a 


144  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

divorce  in  human  nature.  There  is  something  in  a  man 
which  approves  God's  holy  law — admits  its  claims — 
sometimes  reaches  up  towards  obeying  it  ;  but  there  is 
an  opposing  tendency  in  man  which  by  the  law  of  God 
is  only  stimulated  to  do  worse,  and  so  the  man  is  di- 
vided against  himself.  And  he  says — verse  15  :  "  For 
that  which  I  do,  I  know  not."  Our  version  has  the  term 
"allow,"  but  the  margin  says  ''know,"  which  i^s  the  only 
correct  translation.  "That  which  I  do,  I  know  not.  I 
don't  know  what  I  am  doing.  I  practise  what  I  don't 
wish.  I  fail  to  practise  what  I  do  wish.  I  am  unable 
to  act  out  my  aims.  I  don't  know  what  I  am  about." 
So  there  is  a  great  conflict  in  a  man's  soul — between  the 
better  and  the  worse  in  him.  And  the  Apostle  goes  on 
to  state  this  over  and  over  again  :  the  struggle  in  our 
bosoms.  In  verse  21  he  says  that  it  is  a  law — using  the 
term  law  in  a  peculiar  sense — it  is  a  law  of  our  moral 
nature  and  history  that  this  conflict  exists.  There  is  a 
battle  going  on  between  the  better  in  me  which  delights 
in  the  law  of  God,  and  another  tendency  in  me  whicTi 
he  calls  "another  la\v  in  my  members."  And,  ala?  !  this 
evil  law  gains  the  upper  hand,  and  the  man  becomes  a 
captive  slave — as  he  had  said  above,  sold  under  sin. 
Thus  the  very  best  that  the  law  can  do  towards  making 
any  man  holy  is  to  make  him  cry  out  in  agony  and  al- 
most despair  :  "  Oh,  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  this  sinful  nature,  which  is  leading  me 
to  death  ?  "  The  question  has  been  long  and  constantly 
disputed  whether  this  picture  is  that  of  a  renewed  man, 
or  of  an  unrenewed.  I  think  the  true  view  is  that  of 
Meyer  and  others,  that  it  is  not  a  picture  distinctively  of 
a  renewed,  nor  distinctively  of  an  unrenewed  man  ;  but 
that  it  describes  the  best  that  the  law  can  do  towards 
making  any  man  holy.     Many  who  are  without  spiritual 


JUSTIFICATION  BY   FAITH.  145 

renewal  have  been  painfully  conscious  of  this  divorce 
and  conflict  in  the  bosom.  Remarkable  statements  of 
it  are  to  be  found  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  ;  and 
examples  might  be  found  in  our  own  time.  Any  man 
who  honestly  tries  to  do  right  merely  according  to  his 
sense  of  right,  and  in  his  own  strength,  or  who  honestly 
tries  in  his  own  strength  to  live  according  to  the  laws  of 
God,  will  find  that  his  efforts  can  result  in  nothing 
better  than  a  painful  sense  of  his  sinfulness.  But  having 
given  this  outcry  of  agony,  the  Apostle  turns  with  one 
of  the  quick  transitions  only  of  passion,  and  says  :  "  I 
thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  There  the 
deliverance  is  indicated.  Before  proceeding  to  develop 
this  thought,  he  sums  up  at  the  end  of  verse  25  :  "  So, 
then,  with  the  mind  I  myself  serve  the  law  of  God  ;  but 
with  the  flesh  the  law  of  sin."  And  thus  the  law  cannot 
deliver  from  sin.  It  takes  hold  of  part  of  us  ;  but  that 
part  is  overcome  by  the  stronger  sinful  part  of  our  na- 
ture, and  the  law  fails^-not  through  any  fault  of  its 
own,  but  because  sin  is  by  the  law  unconquerable. 

Now,  the  Apostle  turns  in  the  early  part  of  chapter 
viii.,  to  show  what  the  Gospel  can  do  towards  making  a 
man  holy.  There  are  here  three  points  :  First,  the  Gospel 
sets  us  free  from  condemnation  for  the  sins  of  the  past. 
It  pays  the  bankrupt's  debts,  and  gives  him  a  chance  to 
set  out  again.  Second,  it  introduces  into  the  conflict  in 
the  human  bosom  a  new  moral  force  :  that  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Verse  2  :  Having  spoken  above  of  the  two  con- 
tending forces  as  the  law  of  God  and  the  law  in  the 
members,  he  calls  this  third  force  a  law  also.  He  says  : 
"The  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  eman- 
cipated me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  Above  he 
was  a  captive  slave  ;  but  the  new  moral  force  that  enters 
into  the  conflict  sets  free  from  this  bondage,  and  turns 


146  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTIIFIELD. 

the  tide  of  battle,  and  is  able  to  give  victory  over  our 
sinful  propensities.  So  then,  the  Gospel,  by  introducing 
the  Spirit  of  God,  brings  in  a  conquering  force  to  decide 
the  battle  in  man's  bosom.  "  That  the  requirement  of 
the  lav\^ " — for  the  word  "  righteousness  "  in  verse  4  is 
not  the  term  as  rendered  above  in  the  Epistle,  but 
means,  as  in  the  margin  and  the  Revised  Version,  the 
"  requirement."  "  That  the  requirement  of  the  law- 
might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit " — that  is,  after  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelling  in  us  and  giving  us  the  victory.  Now,  just  in 
proportion  as  any  man  does  truly  walk,  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit,  he  does  fulfil  the  requirpment 
of  the  law,  and  only  thus  is  this  possible.  But  there  is 
a  third  thing  which  the  Gospel  does  as  bearing  upon 
the  work  of  making  us  holy.  It  introduces  a  new  and 
blessed  motive,  namely,  the  motive  of  grateful  love  to 
God.  Those  whom  God's  Spirit  is  leading  (verse  14) 
are  God's  sons,  and  in  the  spirit  of  sonship  they  are 
moved  to  serve  Him.  "  For  ye  have  not  received  the 
spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear."  The  Christian  does 
not  serve  God  as  a  trembling  slave  serves  a  hard  master 
— for  fear  he  will  be  punished.  Nor  does  he  serve  God 
as  a  mere  hireling,  giving  so  much  work  for  so  much 
pay.  The  Christian  is  a  loving  son,  who  gladly  serves 
a  loving  Father.  "  Ye  have  received  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion, whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father."  Truly  a  great 
thought  is  this.  The  new  Gospel  motive  of  obedience 
is  grateful  love  to  Him  who  saves  us.  And,  full  of  this 
great  thought  of  sonship  to  the  Heavenly  Father,  the 
Apostle  hasn't  been  content  to  express  it  in  the  Greek 
alone ;  he  falls  back  upon  the  language  of  his  childhood 
and  says  :  "  Whereby  we  cry,  Abba  " — a  word  with  which 
he  used  to  address  his  own  father.     It  is  as  if  vou  were 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  I47 

Speaking  some  foreign  language,  and  beginning  to 
make  a  moving  statement  about  your  mother,  you 
should  feel  that  at  that  point  you  must  take  the  Eng- 
lish word  that  you  used  to  speak  when  a  child.  Young 
men  are  more  familiar  with  the  idea  of  the  tender  love 
of  mother.  Perhaps  it  is  only  as  we  grow  old  that  there 
is  developed  the  full  tenderness  towards  father.  Some 
day  when  your  father  is  dead  and  gone,  you  may  be 
able  to  read  this  saying  of  the  Apostle  with  a  greater 
depth  of  feeding  and  passion  than  would  now  be  possi-. 
ble.  O  Father — Father  in  Heaven — I  wish  to  know, 
and  lovingly  to  do,  Thy  holy  will. 

In  three  great  ways,  then,  does  the  Gospel  act  towards 
making  men  holy,  which  the  law  cannot  do.  The  re- 
maining portion  of  this  section  occupies  itself  with  the 
thoughts  growing  out  of  this  grand  conception  that  we 
are  the  children  of  God.  "  If  children,"  says  the  Apos- 
tle, "  then  heirs  :  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with 
Christ."  That  leads  to  the  thought  that  as  we  are  here- 
after to  be  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  so  here  already  we 
are  joint  sufferers  with  Christ.  And  so  the  Apostle  pro- 
ceeds to  consider  the  question  why  God  leaves  His  dear 
children  to  a  life  of  suffering.  Why  doesn't  He  take 
them  at  once  away  from  all  earthly  sin  and  sorrow  to 
the  pure  and  blessed  life  ?  Now,  he  gives  various  rea- 
sons for  this.  The  first  is  already  implied  :  We  suffer 
in  union  with  Christ,  that  in  union  with  Christ  we  may 
hereafter  be  glorified.  That  is  surely  a  consolation  in 
suffering.  A  second  explanation  is  given  in  verse  18, 
namely  :  that  the  present  sufferings  are  not  worthy  to 
be  compared  with  the  coming  glory — these  are  so  slight 
and  that  will  be  so  great.  The  third  point  is  (verses  19 
to  23)  :  We  live  in  a  world  of  suffering.  The  whole  cre- 
ation shows  signs  of  suffering,  and  seems  looking  for- 


148  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

ward  to  future  deliverance  in  connection  with  the  com- 
pleted salvation  of  God's  children.  We  live  in  a  world 
of  suffering,  and  so  it  is  not  strange  that  we  too  are  left 
to  suffer.  This  impressive  image  has  not  been  by  any 
other  writer  so  fitly  developed,  I  think,  as  in  Mrs. 
Browning's  "  Drama  of  Exile."  She  takes  up  Adam 
and  Eve  where  Milton  has  left  them,  as  they  go  forth 
exiles  from  Eden,  and  find  scenes  of  suffering  in  the 
world  around.  Another  point  is  the  fact  that  "we  were 
saved  by  hope  "  (verse  24) — for  the  Greek  has  the  past 
tense,  as  in  the  Revised  Version.  When  we  became 
Christians  and  entered  into  a  state  of  salvation,  it  was 
by  hoping  in  Christ,  and  so  we  needn't  be  surprised  if 
the  full  fruition  remains  for  the  future.  "  If  we  hope 
for  that  we  see  not,  then  do  we  with  patience  wait  for  it." 
Still  another  point  :  We  are  left  amid  sufferings  and 
wickedness  ;  but  the  Spirit  helps  our  weakness  (verse 
26).  For  example,  "We  know  not  what  we  should  pray 
for  as  we  ought ;  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us."  How  is  this  to  be  understood  ?  The  Greek 
or  Roman  advocate  helped  his  client  in  two  different 
ways.  Sometimes  he  spoke  for  the  client  before  the 
tribunal  as  our  advocates  do,  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that 
Christ  is  called  our  Advocate,  pleading  for  us  before  the 
throne.  But  in  other  cases  the  ancient  advocate  merely 
prepared  a  speech  which  the  client  might  speak  for  him- 
self. It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  our  Ad- 
vocate. He  teaches  us  what  to  pray  for.  The  desires 
which  the  Spirit  works  in  the  heart  will  often  be  too 
deep  to  find  adequate  expression  in  human  language  ; 
and  so  the  Spirit  is  said  to  intercede  with  groanings 
which  cannot  be  uttered.  But  their  meaning  is  fully 
known  to  God  (verse  27)  ;  and  the  prayer  which  the 
Spirit  works  in  us  is  sure  to  be  according  to  the  will  of 


JUSTIFICATION   BY   FAITH.  I49 

God — and  it  is  as  sure  to  be  answered.  Still  another 
reason  why  we  may  be  reconciled  to  the  fact  that  God's 
children  are  left  to  suffer  is  the  great  thought  of  verse 
28  :  "  We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God."  Here  is  a  greater  thought  than 
we  can  fairly  take  in.  Observe  :  He  doesn't  say  that 
everything  by  itself  works  for  our  good.  Many  individ- 
ual things  would,  if  they  stood  alone,  work  us  harm  ; 
but  he  says  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God.  And  how  do  we  know  that  this  is 
so  ?  How  may  we  be  sure  of  this  great  and  blessed  co- 
operation of  all  things  ?  He  proceeds  to  say  it  is  because 
those  who  love  God  are  the  called  according  to  God's 
eternal  and  unchangeable  purpose  ;  and  therefore  we 
know  that  all  things  do  work  together  for  their  good. 

The  remainder  of  this  chapter  passes  into  a  psalm — 
as  often  in  the  prophets  the  argument  turns  into  a  song. 
"  What  shall  we  then  say  to  these  things  ?  If  God  is  for 
us,  who  is  against  us?"  Men  strive  to  be  against  us — 
proclaim  themselves  against  us.  But  their  opposition 
only  co-operates  with  all  other  things  to  do  us  good. 
Who  passes  condemnation  upon  God's  elect,  when  they 
have  God's  Son  as  their  Saviour  ? — who  died  and  rose 
again  for  them,  and  now  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
makes  intercession  for  them.  And  who  shall  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  that  interceding  Lord  ?  Shall  tribu- 
lation, or  distress,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  naked- 
ness, or  peril,  or  sword  ?  Nay  ;  in  all  these  things  we 
are  more  than  conquerors  through  God  tliat  loved  us. 
Instead  of  separating  us  from  His  love,  they  are  con- 
quered by  us  through  His  love.  And  then  the  Apostle 
ends  with  those  triumphant  words  which  the  very  angels 
in  Heaven  might  borrow  as  a  song  of  praise  before  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb. 


CHAPTER  X. 

RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY. 

Address  by  Dr.  Broadus— Paul's  Reply  to  Pseudo-Christians  at 
Corinth— The  Resurrection  of  Christ  a  Great  Fact — What  it  Se- 
cures :  Revivification  of  the  Body  and  Salvation  of  the  Soul — 
Further  Arguments — The  Christian's  Hope  in  Affliction — Bound- 
less Variety  in  Nature,  Animate  and  Inanimate — Qualities  of  the 
Spiritual  Body  Foreshadowed — Instant  Metamorphosis  of  the 
Living — The  Harvest-Home. 

Will  you  examine  with  me  the  15th  chapter  of  the 
first  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians  ?  The  subject  of 
this  grand  chapter  is  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
There  were  some  of  the  professed  Christians  in  Corinth 
who  denied  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  a  resurrec- 
tion of  dead  men.  They  might  naturally  do  so  for  the 
obvious  reasons  which  occur  to  many  people  now.  But 
besides,  it  is  probable  that  some  of  them  were  influenced 
by  a  curious  speculative  theory  which  in  the  next  cen- 
tury is  called  Gnosticism.  We  see  that  theory  appear- 
ing in  the  errors  condemned  by  Paul  in  writing  to  the 
Colossians,  and  by  John  in  his  Epistles.  It  seems  far 
away  from  us,  but  it  was  a  very  proud  philosophy  in  its 
day,  boasting  of  itself  as  science.  The  fundamental 
position  of  the  Gnostics  was  that  matter  is  necessarily 
the  seat  of  evil  :  all  evil  resides  in  matter,  and  no  mat- 
ter is  free  from  evil.  We  can  at  once  see  how  they 
would  deny  the  possibility  of  a  resurrection  of  the  body, 
because  that  would  involve  the  perpetuating  of  evil, 
(150) 


RESURRECTION   OF  THE   BODY.  151 

However  this  may  be  as  to  the  Corinthians,  there  were 
some  of  them  who  not  merely  questioned  the  doctrine 
of  a  general  resurrection,  but  positively  denied  that 
there  is  any  such  thing  as  a  resurrection  of  dead  men. 
The  Greek  has  no  article.  It  is  not  strictly  "  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead";  but  they  said,  "there  is  no  resurrec- 
tion of  dead  men  " — as  iEschylus  long  before  had  de- 
clared :  "When  a  man  has  once  died  there  is  no  resur- 
rection to  him." 

Now,  in  the  first  section  of  the  chapter — verses  1-19 — 
the  Apostle  says  :  To  affirm  that  there  is  no  resurrection 
of  dead  men  is  to  deny  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and 
thus  to  destroy  Christianity.  He  begins  by  reminding 
them  that  the  Gospel  which  he  originally  preached  to 
them — from  which  they  derived  all  their  know^ledge  of 
Christianity — involved  and  rested  upon  the  fact  that 
Christ  had  been  raised  from  the  dead.  "  For  I  de- 
livered unto  you  first  of  all  ...  .  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that  He  was 
buried  ;  and  that  He  hath  been  raised  on  the  third  day 
according  to  the  Scriptures."  Both  His  death  and  His 
resurrection  were  in  accordance  with  the  predictions  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Then  the  Apostle  proceeds  to 
speak  of  witnesses  to  the  risen  Christ :  First,  Cephas, 
whom  we  call  Peter.  Second,  the  twelve.  Third,  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  "of  whom,"  he  says,  "  the 
greater  part  are  still  living."  It  had  been  no  great  inter- 
val of  time.  We  know  most  exactly  that  this  Epistle  was 
written  in  a.d.  57 — it  cannot  have  been  more  than  a  year 
earlier  or  later.  Most  probably  our  Lord's  resurrection 
was  in  a.d.  30,  with  a  possible  variation  of  one  or  two 
years.  So  it  had  been  about  twenty-seven  years  since  His 
resurrection.  Consider  a  moment.  It  is  twenty-eight 
years  since  our  great  civil  war  began,  and  twenty-three 


152  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

years  since  it  ended.  The  older  persons  present  remem- 
ber with  perfect  familiarity  ail  its  events  from  beginning 
to  end.  And  there  had  been  only  the  same  lapse  of 
time  in  the  case  of  these  witnesses  whom  Paul  mentions. 
No  class  of  skeptics  at  the  present  day  will  think  of  deny- 
ing that  Paul  wrote  this  Epistle  :  and  he  declares  that 
more  than  half  of  those  five  hundred  witnesses  were 
still  living.  Afterwards  he  adds  that  Christ  appeared 
to  James,  and  then  again  to  all  the  Apostles,  and  finally 
to  Paul  himself.  This  statement  of  the  testimony  of 
our  Lord's  resurrection  is  surely  remarkable,  and  is  to 
be  added  to  the  evidence  furnished  in  the  four  Gospels, 
in  the  Acts,  and  in  the  other  Epistles.  Allow  me  to  say 
as  a  student  of  history  desiring  to  speak  calmly  :  If  I 
don't  know  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  rose  from  the  dead, 
then  I  know  nothing  in  the  history  of  mankind.  It  is  a 
great  assured  fact ;  and  rightly  considered  it  carries 
with  it  the  truth  of  Christianity  in  general.  And  not 
merely  is  our  Lord's  resurrection  a  pillar  of  Christian 
evidence,  but  it  is  a  part  of  His  work  of  salvation.  In 
2  Cor.  V.  15  we  read  :  "  He  died  for  all,  that  they  which 
live  should  no  longer  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto 
Him  who  for  their  sakes  died  and  rose  again."  He  did 
not  merely  die  for  them  ;  but  for  them  He  both  died 
and  rose  again.  And  in  Romans  iv.  25  :  "  Who  believe 
in  Him  that  raised  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who 
was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses,  and  was  raised  up 
for  our  justification."  I  cannot  now  elaborate  this 
thought ;  but  these  passages  plainly  teach  that  our 
Lord's  resurrection  is  a  part  of  His  saving  work.  He 
died  and  rose  again  for  our  salvation.  Now,  let  us  see 
the  Apostle's  argument:  ''If  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
is  a  cardinal  part  of  Christianity,  how  say  some  among 
you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  dead  men  ? "  Observe: 


RESURRECTION   OF  THE   BODY.  153 

this  was  not  the  general  belief  of  the  Corinthian  Chris- 
tians, but  only  of  some,  who  are  carefully  distinguished 
elsewhere  in  the  chapter  also,  from  the  general  body  of 
the  brotherhood.  The  Apostle  declares  that  to  deny  a 
resurrection  of  dead  men  will  necessarily  exclude  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  Notice  the  argument  in  verse 
13.  He  doesn't  say  :  "  Unless  it  is  true  that  there  is  a 
resurrection  of  the  dead  in  general,  then  Christ  is  not 
risen."  That  wouldn't  be  sound  logic — for  Christ  might 
have  risen  as  an  isolated  fact.  But  he  says — and  the 
Greek  shows  the  difference  plainly  :  "  If  it  be  true,  as 
some  among  you  maintain,  that  there  is  no  resurrection 
of  dead  men,  then  Christ  is  not  risen."  He  doesn't  say: 
ei  jATf  avaGraaii  veupc^v  iariv j  but  he  says:  ei  dl 
avaaraai?  vsHpcSv  ovh  effrirz=^'li  it  is  true  that  a 
resurrection  of  dead  men  does  not  exist."  Again  and 
again  he  repeats  this — verses  14-17 — showing  that  to 
deny  a  resurrection  of  dead  men  is  to  deny  Christ's  res- 
urrection, which  overthrows  Christianity  and  destroys 
all  the  hopes  founded  on  it.  And  that  not  only  as  to 
the  living,  but — in  verse  18 — as  to  those  who  are  fallen 
asleep  in  Christ.  Their  existence  has  ceased — they  are 
perished— if  what  these  men  say  be  true.  As  to  our- 
selves also  (verse  19):  "If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hoped 
in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  The  word 
"miserable"  used  to  signify,  not  as  now  "wretched," 
but  "pitiable";  and  the  Revised  Version  here  says: 
"We  are  of  all  men  most  pitiable."  If  we  have  simply 
hoped  in  Christ  in  this  life,  and  it  will  turn  out  to  be  all 
a  delusion — there  being  no  future  life — then  we  are  of 
all  men  most  to  be  pitied,  because  we  have  cherished 
such  a  delusion.  I  have  heard  good  men  sometimes  say: 
"If  Christianit}^  be  a  delusion,  I  should  wish  to  cherish 
it  Still,  because  it  makes  me  happy."     But  I  say  :  "  No  ! 


154  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

I  want  no  delusions — no  happiness  coming  from  delu- 
sions. I  want  truth — reality.  My  soul  was  born  to 
know  truth,  and  to  love  truth.  And,  blessed  be  God  ! 
He  has  given  me  the  means  of  learning  truth  through 
His  Spirit ;  and  I  don't  wish  to  be  cheated  with  delusive 
hopes."  It  is  to  that  feeling  the  Apostle  here  appeals.  To 
deny  the  Christian's  hope  of  a  future  existence  is  to  make 
his  a  pitiable  lot. 

Now  comes  the  second  section  of  the  chapter — verses 
20  to  28.  Before  completing  his  argument  the  Apostle 
turns  to  the  other  side  in  a  manner  quite  characteristic 
of  him.  He  says  :  "  But  now  Christ  is  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  this  secures  the  resurrection  of  His  people." 
He  proceeds  to  speak  only  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ's 
people.  We  know  full  well  that  he  believed  in  a  gen- 
eral resurrection  of  all  mankind.  A  little  more  than  a 
year  later — in  Acts  xxiv.  15 — v/e  find  him  saying  before 
Felix  that  he  expects  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of 
the  just  and  unjust.  But  in  our  passage  he  confines  his 
view  to  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  declares  that  of 
this  Christ's  resurrection  is  the  pledge  and  assurance. 
Christ  was  the  first-fruits,  and  the  first-fruits  of  the 
harvest  gave  promise  of  all  that  should  follow.  So  he 
proceeds  to  remind  us  that  death  came  through  Adam, 
and  in  like  manner  the  resurrection  comes  in  Christ.  It 
is  wholly  beside  the  mark  to  quote  as  teaching  universal 
salvation  the  statement  in  verse  22  :  "As  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  ";  for  the 
whole  connection  shows  plainly  that  he  speaks  of  bodily 
death  and  bodily  resurrection.  And  so  he  declares  that 
Christ's  people  will  all  rise  at  His  coming.  Having 
mentioned  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  he  declares  that 
then  Christ  will  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  and 
will  Himself  also  be  subject  to  God,  "  that  God  may  be 


RESURRECTION   OF  THE   BODY.  155 

all  in  all."  This  does  not  conflict  with  the  plain  teach- 
ing elsewhere  that  Christ  is  Himself  Divine.  The  refer- 
ence is  to  the  authority  delegated  to  Him  as  the  God- 
man — the  Mediator.  As  He  told  the  disciples  just  be- 
fore His  ascension  :  ''  All  authority  in  Heaven  and  in 
earth  was  given  unto  Me  ";  so  here  we  are  told  that  this 
delegated  Mediatorial  authority  will  at  last  be  turned 
back  again  to  God  who  gave  it,  and  Messianic  dominion 
will  be  merged  in  the  general  dominion  of  God. 

In  the  third  section  of  the  chapter — verses  29  to  34 — 
the  Apostle  gives  further  arguments  against  those  per- 
sons at  Corinth  who  denied  the  re-surrection.  This 
section  needs  to  be  closely  connected  with  the  end  of  our 
first  section  at  verse  19.  The  Apostle  here  practically 
identifies  the  question  of  a  resurrection  with  that  of  a 
future  existence.  We  know  that  he  believed  in  and 
taught  a  conscious  existence  of  the  spirit  between  death 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  In  2  Cor,  v.  6-8  he 
declares  :  "  We  are  always  confident,  knowing  that 
whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body  we  are  absent  from 
the  Lord.  We  are  confident,  and  willing  rather  to  be 
absent  from  the  body  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord." 
Here  he  distinctly  asserts  a  conscious  existence  in  the 
presence  of  Christ  while  absent  from  the  body  ;  but  in 
the  passage  with  which  we  are  dealing  he  speaks  only 
of  the  re-embodied  existence,  and  points  out  that  for 
them  to  deny  a  resurrection  is  to  deny  a  future  exist- 
ence. The  Corinthians  would  make  no  distinction.  The 
first  argument  he  here  presents  has  awakened  much  dis- 
putation, and  I  have  thought  all  the  trouble  arises  from 
the  unwillingness  of  many  readers  to  take  the  passage 
in  its  plain  and  obvious  sense.  I  don't  know  how  you 
have  found  it,  but  I  think  one  of  the  commonest  sources 
of  difficulty  in  understanding  the  Bible  is  a  certain  un- 


156  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

willingness  to  let  the  Bible  mean  what  it  wants  to  mean. 
We  don't  fancy  the  obvious  meaning  of  some  passage, 
and  we  say,  "  Oh,  it  cannot  mean  that,"  and  proceed  to 
look  for  another  meaning.  Then  the  plainer  the  lan- 
guage is,  the  more  difficulty  we  find  in  drawing  from  it 
any  other  meaning  ;  and  so  we  call  the  passage  ex- 
tremely difficult.  I  do  not  say  that  you  have  ever  done 
this,  but  certainly  I  have,  and  have  become  conscious 
of  it  again  and  again.  Now,  the  obvious  meaning  of 
this  passage — verse  29 — is  that  some  persons  among  this 
party  at  Corinth  had  been  baptizing  living  persons  in- 
stead of  those  who  had  died  without  baptism.  There 
is  a  great  disposition  in  human  nature  to  magnify  the 
externals  of  Christianity.  This  would  easily  arise 
among  Jews  and  among  Greeks.  We  know  that  a  dis- 
position to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  Christian  cere- 
mony existed  not  many  generations  after  this,  and  it 
might  easily  have  existed  at  the  beginning  among  some 
persons.  And  as  to  this  particular  matter,  we  know 
from  several  Fathers  that  there  were  in  the  second 
century  certain  professed  Christians  who  did  actually 
practise  the  baptism  of  a  living  person  for  the  benefit  of 
one  who  had  died  without  baptism.  Of  course,  that  is 
all  nonsense  from  the  Christian's  point  of  view  ;  but  I 
pray  you  to  observe  that  the  Apostle  doesn't  present 
this  as  his  own  argument  in  favor  of  his  own  teaching 
— he  presents  it  as  what  the  logicians  call  an  argument 
ad'hominein  :  an  argument  specially  applying  to  the  per- 
sons addressed.  He  wishes  to  show  them  how  incon- 
sistent it  is  for  some  of  them  to  be  practising  this  bap- 
tism for  the  dead  when  they  say  that  dead  men  will 
never  live  again.  He  carefully  distinguishes  the  per- 
sons who  do  this  from  himself  and  from  the  Church  in 
general.    It  is  not,  "  What  shall  we  do  who  are  baptized 


RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  i$7 

for  the  dead  ?  "  but,  "  What  shall  they  do  ?  "  Before  and 
after  he  speaks  of  the  Christians  in  general  as  "a/^." 
All  the  difficulty  about  this  passage  appears  to  have 
arisen  from  a  failure  to  observe  that  the  Apostle  intro- 
duces it  only  as  an  ad  homine7n  argument,  to  silence  cap- 
tious objectors  ;  even  as  he  tells  Titus  concerning  cer- 
tain unruly  persons,  that  their  mouths  must  be  stopped. 
Our  Lord  used  a  similar  argument  when  they  charged 
Him  with  casting  out  demons  by  a  league  with  Beelze- 
bub, and  He  said  :  "Well,  then  ;  by  whom  do  your  sons 
cast  them  out  ?  "  It  was  a  mere  argument  ad  hominetn 
to  silence  unreasonable  controversialists.  The  Apostle 
then  proceeds  to  further  considerations  addressing 
themselves  to  all  Christians.  "Why  do  we  also  stand  in 
jeopardy  every  hour — constantly  exposed  to  peril,  to 
death,  in  the  service  of  Christ — if  there  be  no  future 
life  ? "  For  his  part  he  declares  that  his  sufferings 
amount  to  daily  death.  And  why  should  he  have  fought 
with  beasts  at  Ephesus  if  there  be  no  resurrection  ?  We 
don't  know  whether  he  means  that  he  has  literally 
fought  with  beasts,  or  means  it  figuratively  ;  and  it 
doesn't  at  all  matter  for  the  understanding  of  his  argu- 
ment. He  had  encountered  great  perils  and  sufferings 
in  the  service  of  Christ ;  and  what  was  the  use  of  bear- 
ing all  this  if  there  be  no  future  ?  Naturally  enough 
might  one  then  say,  as  the  wicked  Jews  had  said  long 
before — Isaiah  xxii.  \t^\  "Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die."  People  would  very  generally  say 
this  if  they  abandoned  all  belief  in  a  future  existence. 
But  the  Apostle  checks  them  :  "  Be  not  deceived.  Don't 
adopt  any  such  ruinous  notion.  Don't  allow  the  people 
who  assert  that  there  is  no  resurrection  to  communicate 
their  ideas  to  you."  And  then  he  quotes  a  line  of  a 
Greek   poet.     We  don't  know  whether  he  was  quoting 


158  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

directly  from  the  poet,  or  the  saying  had  become  pro- 
verbiaL  You  college  gentlemen  may  notice  that  it  is  what 
you  call  an  iambic  trimeter :  cpOsipovffiv  tjOt]  xP^}^^ 
ojxikiai  uanai.  It  is  a  little  difficult  to  translate.  "  Com- 
munications "  is  not  indeed  the  word.  The  revisers  say 
"  evil  company."  It  means  evil  intercourse  or  conversa- 
tions. And  the  word  rendered  "  manners "  signifies 
both  morals  and  manners.  We  have  no  term  that  de- 
notes both  at  once,  as  they  have  in  German — *'  SittClt." 
The  thought  is  surely  one  of  great  importance — perhaps 
especially  to  the  young  :  "  Evil  conversations  and  inter- 
course corrupt  good  morals  and  manners."  The  Apostle 
has  repeatedly  quoted  Greek  poets,  as  a  missionary  in 
China  now  likes  to  quote  some  saying  of  Confucius, 
because  that  will  take  hold  upon  his  hearers. 

The  remainder  of  the  chapter  presents  a  reply  to  ob- 
jectors. The  first  objection,  which  is  answered  in  verses 
35-49>  turns  upon  the  inquiry  :  "  How  can  the  same  body 
be  raised?"  The  Apostle  introduces  it  in  a  manner 
characteristic  of  his  writings,  by  representing  some  in- 
dividual objector  as  speaking.  "  But  some  one  will  say, 
How  are  the  dead  raised  ?  and  with  what  kind  of  body 
do  they  come?"  Now,  this  is  not  the  question  of  a  sin- 
cere and  anxious  inquirer  wishing  to  have  difficulties 
removed  out  of  the  way  of  his  faith.  It  is  the  question 
of  a  curious  and  hostile  objector.  We  see  that  from  the 
harsh  term  with  which  the  Apostle  introduces  his  reply. 
He  says  :  "  Thou  fool  !  " — a  strong  expression,  which  an 
inspired  teacher  might  employ  because  he  would  know 
that  it  was  deserved,  and  could  use  it  without  improper 
feeling  on  his  own  part.  There  are  occasions  on  which 
for  us  also  this  would  be  the  most  appropriate  answer 
to  use  ;  but  we  feel  a  difficulty  in  making  it.  Apart 
from  the  matter  of  civility,  there  is  danger  of  wrong 


RESURRECTION   OF  THE   BODY.  1 59 

judgment  or  wrong  feeling  on  our  own  part ;  so  we 
sometimes  have  to  shrink  from  saying  :  "  You  are  a  fool, 
and  you  know  you  are," — or  :  ''  You  are  a  fool,  and  have 
not  sense  enough  to  know  it " — although  at  times  that 
would  be  the  only  logical  reply.  To  this  silly  objector 
the  Apostle  now  answers  that  there  are  many  different 
kinds  of  bodies  in  the  world  ;  and  so  the  risen  body  may 
be  very  different  from  the  present  body,  and  yet  be  in 
some  just  sense  the  same.  He  illustrates  this,  first,  from 
sowing  wheat.  The  grain  of  wheat  that  we  sow  must 
die  in  order  to  be  made  alive.  The  body  that  grows 
out  of  it  :  the  stalk,  the  leaves,  the  head,  the  blossoms, 
and  many  grains — are  in  one  sense  the  same  as  the  sin- 
gle seed  we  planted,  though  in  another  sense  they  are 
very  different.  Again,  there  are  many  kinds  of  flesh,  he 
declares  :  flesh  of  men,  flesh  of  beasts,  flesh  of  fishes, 
flesh  of  birds.  There  are  also  many  bodies  :  bodies  ce- 
lestial and  terrestrial  ;  and  the  celestial  bodies  widely 
differ  in  glory.  You  see  the  point  of  all  these  illustra- 
tions. The  risen  body  may  be  in  a  true  sense  the  same, 
while  yet  in  the  conditions  of  its  existence  exceedingly 
different.  It  will  be  incorruptible,  glorious,  powerful — 
a  spiritual  body.  You  ask  just  what  the  spiritual  body 
is  ;  and  I  answer  :  We  don't  know — we  are  at  the  end 
of  our  information  on  the  subject.  But  you  see  at  once 
that  there  is  no  propriety  in  questioning  or  denying  the 
resurrection  on  the  ground  that  the  matter  composing 
the  body  becomes  widely  scattered — even  enters  into 
new  bodies,  and  that  the  same  body  contains  entirely 
different  matter  at  different  periods  of  its  existence,  and 
all  that.  The  risen  body  will  not  be  in  the  strict  sense 
a  flesh  and  blood  body  :  it  will  be  incorruptible  and 
spiritual  ;  so  the  objection  is  cut  off,  and  that  is  what 
the  Apostle  undertook  to  do.     He  is  not  attempting  to 


l6o  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

define  for  us  the  nature  of  the  risen  body,  but  only  to 
meet  the  objector  by  showing  that  it  will  be  exceedingly 
different  from  the  present  one. 

The  second  objection — in  verses  50-57 — asks  how  it 
will  be  with  those  living  when  Christ  shall  appear. 
That  difficulty  might  well  present  itself  at  the  begin- 
ning. People  would  say  :  "  Grant  that  the  dead  will 
rise  again.  How  about  those  whom  Christ  finds  alive? 
The  Apostle  declares  that  they  will  immediately  be 
changed  without  passing  through  the  experience  of 
death.  They  must  be  changed,  because  flesh  and  blood 
unchanged  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the 
corruptible  must  become  incorruptible.  So,  when  the 
dead  shall  have  been  raised,  and  the  living  at  that  mo- 
ment shall  have  been  changed,  then  all  the  consequences 
of  death  will  have  been  destroyed.  Then — as  written 
in  Isaiah  xxv.  8— death  will  be  swallowed  up  in  victory. 
And,  borrowing  from  the  prophet  Hosea,  the  Apostle 
breaks  into  an  outburst  of  rejoicing  :  "  O  death,  where 
is  thy  sting  ? — O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ? "  It  is  a 
triumph  which  Christianity  warrants — a  victory  which 
Christianity  promises.  He  adds  :  "  The  sting  of  death 
is  sin  ;  and  sin  cannot  be  overcome  by  the  law  :  nay,  the 
law  gives  strength  to  sin  " — a  thought  here  mentioned  in 
passing,  and  to  be  developed  a  few  months  later  in  the 
7th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  law  has 
no  power  to  take  away  the  sting  of  death  by  conquering 
sin  ;  but  the  Gospel  has  this  power.  And  so  he  adds  : 
"  But  thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  conclusion  of  this  great  chapter — in  verse  58 — 
contains  a  two-fold  exhortation,  and  a  great  encourage- 
ment. He  exhorts,  first,  to  be  fixed  in  Christian  con- 
victions.    "  Be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable."     Second  :  To 


RESURRECTION   OF  THE  BODY.  l6l 

be  active  in  Christian  work—"  always  abounding  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord."  Only  fixed  convictions  will  produce 
permanent  Christian  activity  ;  and  only  those  who  are 
actively  at  work  will  maintain  fixed  convictions.  The 
two  may  stand  together  :  either  attempted  alone  will 
fail.  Observe  how  strong  is  the  expression  here  :  not 
merely  "  engaged "  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
"  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,"  and  "  always 
abounding."  Then  he  adds  the  encouragement  to 
steadfastness  and  activity  :  "  Forasmuch  as  ye  know 
that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  It  is  not  in 
vain,  because  it  shall  not  fail  of  good  results.  Labor  in 
the  Lord  is  never  in  vain.  Speak  any  word  for  Christ 
in  public  or  in  private,  that  is  in  accordance  with  the 
Bible,  and  pray  God's  blessing  upon  it,  and  it  will,  and 
must,  and  does  do  good.  You  are  engaged  in  a  cause 
which  cannot  fail — which  is  destined  to  success.  Your 
King  must  reign  till  He  hath  put  all  enemies  under  His 
feet.  And  it  is  not  in  vain,  because  you  shall  not  fail  of 
eternal  reward.  There  is  a  resurrection — a  future  life — 
and  in  that  future  life  will  God  recompense  for  all  sacri- 
fice and  all  toil  in  the  Saviour's  service.  Brother,  don't 
talk  about  the  sacrifices  you  have  made  for  Christ ;  but 
think  only  of  what  you  may  do  in  the  future.  Ah,  if 
there  be  sorrow  in  the  home  of  the  glorified,  methinks 
the  keenest  sorrow  with  which  we  shall  look  back  upon 
our  earthly  life  will  spring  from  remembering  that  we 
did  not  make  more  sacrifices  and  engage  in  greater  toils 
for  the  good  of  men  and  for  the  glory  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CHRIST    AND    THE    HOLY   SPIRIT. 

Address  by  Mr.  Moody — Participation  of  the  Spirit  in  Six  Steps  of 
our  Lord's  Earthly  Life — His  Conception — His  Baptism — The 
Wilderness  Temptation — Preaching  in  the  Synagogue — A  Gra- 
cious Message — What  He  Might  have  Read — His  Miracles — His 
Resurrection — Spiritual  Anointing — A  Short  Road  to  Holiness. 

I  WANT  to  call  your  attention  to  the  way  in  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  took  part  in  six  different  steps  of  our  blessed 
Lord's  life,  or  the  six  great  events  of  His  life  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  there.  If  you  have  got  your  Bibles,  just 
turn  to  Matthew  i.  20.  In  the  first  place  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  at  the  conception  —  Jesus  was  conceived  by  the 
Spirit.  "But  while  he  thought  on  these  things,  be- 
hold, the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a 
dream."  I  have  an  idea  that  this  was  Gabriel.  We  are 
not  told  who  the  angel  was,  simply  that  it  was  an  angel 
of  the  Lord.  What  leads  me  to  think  it  was  Gabriel  is 
this  :  Gabriel  was  generally  the  messenger  that  brought 
tidings  about  Christ.  Five  hundred  years  before  this 
he  brought  the  tidings  to  Daniel  in  Babylon  that  Christ 
was  to  be  born,  and  be  cut  off,  not  for  His  own  sins,  but 
for  the  sins  of  the  people.  Then  he  brought  tidings  to 
Mary,  and  Elisabeth,  and  Zacharias  ;  and  I  suppose  this 
is  the  same  Gabriel.  "  But  while  he  thought  on  these 
things,  behold,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him 
in  a  dream,  saying  :  Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not 
(162) 


CHRIST  AND  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  1 63 

to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy  wife  ;  for  that  which  is  con- 
ceived in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  she  shall  bring 
forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus,  for  He 
shall  save  His  people  from  their  sins." 

Now,  turn  over,  please,  to  the  3d  chapter  of  Matthew, 
and  you  will  find  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  there — at  His 
baptism.  He  seems  interested  in  every  step  that  Christ 
takes,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave — yea,  before  the 
cradle,  and  after  the  grave.  Look  at  the  i6th  verse  : 
"  And  Jesus,  when  He  was  baptized,  went  up  straight- 
way out  of  the  water  :  and  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened 
unto  Him,  and  He  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending 
like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  Him.  And  lo,  a  voice 
from  Heaven,  saying.  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased."  I  remember  Dr.  Gordon  speaking 
about  the  Spirit  coming  in  the  form  of  a  dove  and  light- 
ing upon  Christ.  He  said  that  the  dove  had  found  a 
resting-place.  When  Noah  sent  a  dove  out  it  found  no 
resting-place,  and  came  back  to  the  ark.  Then  he  sent 
out  a  raven,  which  lived  on  carrion,  and  didn't  come 
back.  The  raven  represents  the  old  nature  ;  the  dove 
represents  the  new  nature — it  is  typical  of  the  Spirit. 
At  last  it  found  rest  upon  Christ.  And  you  will  notice 
that  Jesus  was  baptized  not  only  with  water  but  with 
the  Spirit.  A  good  many  people  are  satisfied  with 
water  baptism  ;  but  if  we  want  to  have  power,  we  must 
be  baptized  with  the  Spirit. 

Turn  to  the  4th  of  Luke  and  the  ist  verse  :  "  And 
Jesus,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from 
Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness, 
being  forty  days  tempted  of  the  devil.  And  in  those 
days  He  did  eat  nothing  :  and  when  they  were  ended. 
He  afterward  hungered."  Now,  notice,  He  was  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  yet  He  was  tempted.     Temptation 


164  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

comes  upon  a  man  with  its  strongest  power  when  he  is 
nearest  to  God.  I  used  to  believe  it  was  just  the  reverse 
— that  when  he  got  near  to  God  he  was  free  from  temp- 
tation ;  but  when  you  are  very  near  to  God,  then  it  is 
that  temptation  makes  its  strongest  attack  upon  you. 
When  Jesus  was  anointed  for  service,  then  it  was  that 
the  devil  tempted  Him  for  forty  days.  As  some  one  has 
said,  the  devil  aims  high.  He  got  one  Apostle  to  curse 
and  swear  and  say  he  didn't  know  Christ.  Very  few 
men  have  such  conflicts  with  the  devil  as  Martin  Luther 
had.  Why  ?  Because  he  was  going  to  shake  the  very 
kingdom  of  hell.  Oh,  what  conflicts  John  Bunyan  had  ! 
If  a  man  has  much  of  the  Spirit  of  God  he  will  have 
great  conflicts  with  the  tempter. 

Look  at  the  14th  verse  of  the  same  chapter :  "And 
Jesus  returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee  ; 
and  there  went  out  a  fame  of  Him  through  all  the  re- 
gion round  about."  If  a  man  has  got  the  Spirit  of  God 
resting  on  him  he  will  not  be  long  unheard — there  will 
be  a  fame  of  his  power  spread — it  will  be  noised  abroad. 
There  is  no  power  in  the  world  like  the  Holy  Spirit. 
There  is  no  power  on  earth  that  can  draw  a  crowd  like 
a  man  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  So  when  Christ 
went  to  Galilee,  it  was  noised  abroad,  and  the  house 
was  full.  "And  He  taught  in  their  synagogues,  being 
glorified  of  all.  And  He  came  to  Nazareth,  where  He 
had  been  brought  up:  and,  as  His  custom  was,  He  went 
into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  stood  up 
for  to  read.  And  there  was  delivered  unto  Him  the 
book  of  the  prophet  Esaias.  When  He  had  opened  the 
book,  He  found  the  place  where  it  was  written.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me,  because  He  hath  anointed 
Me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor ;  He  hath  sent  Me 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 


CHRIST   AND   THE    HOLY   SPIRIT.  165 

captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at 
liberty  them  that  are  bruised  ;  to  preach  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord." 

Now,  notice  :  He  didn't  commence  His  ministry  until 
the  Spirit  of  God  came.  I  can't  conceive  of  a  greater 
mistake  than  for  any  man  to  attempt  to  do  the  Lord's 
work  without  first  receiving  an  anointing.  Education 
is  very  good — all  you  get  in  your  college  is  a  great  help; 
but  yet  your  life  will  be  a  failure  unless  you  get  an 
anointing  of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  Christ  lived  for  thirty 
years  without  preaching — almost  unheard  of  :  it  was 
only  when  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  Him  that  He 
began  to  preach.  He  went  into  the  synagogue  and  took 
the  parchment,  and  found  the  place  where  it  was  writ- 
ten :  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me."  The  Spirit 
had  come  upon  men  before  ;  it  wasn't  a  new  thing. 
The  Spirit  came  upon  Moses.  You  can  see  how  he 
brought  the  plagues  upon  Egypt,  and  right  into  the 
homes  of  those  Egyptians.  The  Spirit  came  upon 
Joshua,  and  he  slew  the  enemies  before  him,  and  nation 
after  nation  was  conquered  by  him,  and  city  after  city 
fell,  and  thousands  were  destroyed.  The  Spirit  came 
upon  Gideon,  and  he  destroyed  the  whole  army  of 
Midian.  The  Spirit  came  upon  Samson,  and  he  took 
the  jawbone  of  an  ass  and  slew  a  thousand  men.  The 
Spirit  came  upon  Elijah,  and  there  came  neither  dew 
nor  rain  from  Heaven  but  according  to  his  word.  The 
Spirit  of  God  came  upon  Elisha,  and  the  army  of  Syria 
was  smitten  with  blindness.  So,  you  see,  the  Spirit  of 
God  came  in  different  periods,  and  every  time  it  was  for 
a  different  work.  Jesus  said  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  Me,  because  He  hath  anointed  Me  to  preach  the 
Gospel."  He  was  anointed  for  that  purpose.  And  I 
believe  you  and  I  have  got  to  have  this  anointing  be- 


1 66  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

fore  we  can  be  used.  If  you  are  really  in  earnest  about 
getting  it,  I  don't  believe  you  will  be  disappointed. 
"  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness."  What  does  a  hungry  man  want  ?  Food. 
What  does  a  thirsty  man  want  ?  Water.  Suppose  I  see 
a  man  dying  of  hunger,  and  I  offer  him  a  bag  of  gold 
— will  that  satisfy  him  ?  Oh,  no.  He  will  say  :  "  I  don't 
want  this  gold.  I  want  bread."  Suppose  I  see  a  man 
dying  of  thirst,  and  say  to  him  :  "  You  can  have  a  grand 
time  here  on  the  ball-ground."  He  will  say  :  "  I  don't 
want  that  I  want  water  !  "  Suppose  I  say  :  "  You  can 
have  a  night  of  pleasure."  He  will  say  :  "I  don't  want 
that ;  I  want  water ! "  When  you  and  I  get  where 
we  want  this  one  thing — and  want  to  drink  deeper  than 
we  have  ever  drank  before — we  are  going  to  have  it.  In 
the  2oth  verse  of  this  chapter  are  these  words  :  "  And 
He  closed  the  book,  and  He  gave  it  again  to  the  min- 
ister, and  sat  down.  And  the  eyes  of  all  them  that  were 
in  the  synagogue  were  fastened  on  Him.  And  He  be- 
gan to  say  unto  them  :  This  day  is  this  Scripture  ful- 
filled in  your  ears."  Now,  notice  ;  that  very  day,  and 
that  very  hour,  this  Scripture  was  fulfilled  in  their  ears. 
What  was  fulfilled  ?  The  Spirit  had  come  upon  Him. 
My  point  is  this  :  If  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  manifest  in 
the  flesh — if  He  needed  to  be  anointed  before  He  began 
His  ministry,  don't  you  think  we  need  it  ?  And  don't 
you  think  we  are  making  a  great  mistake  if  we  don't 
cry  to  God  for  it — cry  to  God  continually  that  we  may 
get  the  same  power  that  came  upon  Him?  We  have 
got  to  have  the  same  power.  And  don't  you  notice.  His 
last  teaching  to  His  disciples  was  that  they  should  tarry 
in  Jerusalem  till  they  received  power.  They  had  been 
with  Jesus  for  three  years,  and  after  hearing  His  words 
and  seeing  His  miracles,  you  would  think  they  would 


CHRIST  AND   THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  1 6/ 

have  been  qualified  to  preach  ;  but  I  believe  if  Peter 
had  commenced  the  sermon  he  preached  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  before  the  Pentecostal  power  came,  it  would 
have  been  a  stupendous  failure.  I  have  no  doubt  those 
Christians  would  have  been  exterminated.  But  they 
waited  for  the  unction— for  the  power  -and  when  the 
power  came,  they  began  to  preach  the  glorious  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God.  That  is  the  very  thing  we  want  to 
do.  Look  at  the  representatives  of  these  different  col- 
leges. Suppose  they  get  endowed  with  power.  What 
is  going  to  be  the  result  ?  I  tell  you,  eternity  alone  can 
tell  the  result. 

Now,  notice  what  Jesus  might  have  read.  Sometimes 
I  like  to  go  through  this  book  of  Isaiah  to  see  the  things 
that  really  might  have  made  them  angry  with  some  occa- 
sion if  He  had  read  them.  I  haven't  time  to  touch  upon 
half  the  verses.  It  is  astonishing  that  they  got  angry 
when  He  came  back  with  such  a  loving  message  :  "  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  upon  Me,  because  He  hath  anointed  Me 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor."  You  might  have 
thought  the  poor  would  have  been  glad  to  hear  the 
Gospel.  "  He  hath  sent  Me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted." 
You  might  have  thought  the  broken-hearted  would  have 
been  glad  to  be  healed.  "  To  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives."  You  might  have  thought  that  the  captives — 
those  who  were  bound  with  passion  and  lust — would 
have  been  glad  when  He  came  to  open  the  prison-doors 
by  preaching  the  Gospel — the  good  news.  How  sweet 
that  news  must  have  been  to  those  who  really  wanted 
to  be  delivered  from  sin  !  I  don't  believe  man  has  ever 
heard — or  ever  will  hear — better  news  on  this  side  of 
Heaven  than  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  Man 
likes  to  hear  good  news  generally.  How  strange  that 
those  people  got  Singry  when  our  Saviour  came  to  them 


l68  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT    NORTHFIELD. 

with  such  loving  words  !  If  they  got  angry  with  what 
He  did  read,  let  us  see  what  He  might  have  read  out  of 
the  book  in  His  hand.  He  might  have  turned  to  the 
first  chapter  and  read  :  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner, 
and  the  ass  his  master's  crib  ;  but  Israel  doth  not  know, 
My  people  doth  not  consider."  He  might  have  told 
them  that  the  ox  and  the  ass  knew  more  than  they  did. 
But  He  didn't.  He  mi*ght  have  turned  to  the  7th  chap- 
ter :  "  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son, 
and  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel."  He  might  have 
said  :  "  I  am  Immanuel — God  in  the  flesh."  But  He 
hadn't  proved  His  Messiahship  then,  and  it  wasn't  time 
for  Him  to  proclaim  Himself  Immanuel.  He  might 
have  turned  to  the  40th  chapter  :  *'  The  voice  of  him 
that  crieth  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord  ;  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our 
God."  He  might  have  said  :  "  John  the  Baptist  was  My 
forerunner.  I  am  God  ;  I  am  the  One  he  proclaimed." 
He  might  have  read  the  9th  verse  of  the  same  chapter  : 
"  O  Zion,  that  bringest  good  tidings,  get  thee  up  into 
the  high  mountain  ;  O  Jerusalem,  that  bringest  good 
tidings,  lift  up  thy  voice  with  strength  ;  lift  it  up,  be  not 
afraid  ;  say  unto  the  cities  of  Judah,  Behold  your  God." 
He  might  have  said  :  ''  I  am  that  God  that  the  Prophet 
was  speaking  of  seven  hundred  years  ago."  He  might 
have  made  them  angry  if  He  had  proclaimed  just  then 
His  divinity.  He  might  have  turned  to  the  41st  chap- 
ter :  "  I  the  Lord  will  hold  thy  right  hand,  saying  unto 
thee.  Fear  not ;  I  will  help  thee.  Fear  not,  thou  worm 
Jacob,  and  ye  men  of  Israel  ;  I  will  help  thee,  saith  the 
Lord  and  thy  Redeemer,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel."  He 
might  have  said  :  "  I  am  that  Holy  One."  Or  He  might 
have  turned  to  that  grand  53d  chapter  and  read  :  "  He 
was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised  for 


CHRIST   AND   THE   HOLY    SPIRIT.  169 

our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
Him  ;  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we,  like 
sheep,  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to 
His  own  way  ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  Him  the 
iniquity  of  us  all."  He  might  have  said  :  "  I  am  the  one 
who  bore  away  your  iniquities  and  your  sins.  I  was 
born  with  that  purpose.  For  that  purpose  I  have  come 
into  the  world."  But  He  didn't  read  that.  And  He 
passed  by  that  55th  chapter  :  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirst- 
eth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money  ; 
come  ye,  buy,  and  eat  ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without  price."  There  had  yet  to 
be  a  fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David  before  that 
prophecy  could  really  be  fulfilled.  He  passed  by  all 
that,  and  turned  to  the  6ist  chapter,  and  He  found  the 
place  where  it  is  written  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  Me."  The  Lord  had  anointed  Him  to  preach  the 
Gospel. 

Now,  dear  friends,  let  each  and  every  one  of  us  seek 
this  anointing.  Some  of  you,  perhaps,  are  saying  :  "  I 
don't  expect  to  be  a  preacher."  Well,  if  you  go  into 
law  you  will  need  this  anointing  from  on  high.  If  you 
go  into  the  medical  profession  you  will  need  this  anoint- 
ing. Who  can  do  more  good  than  a  doctor  as  he  enters 
into  the  homes  of  the  sick,  and  goes  with  them  right  up 
to  the  very  gates  of  death  ?  I  don't  care  what  your  oc- 
cupation is  going  to  be,  if  you  live  an  unconsecrated 
life,  that  life  is  going  to  be  a  failure.  But  if  you  are 
truly  consecrated — if  you  receive  this  Divine  anointing — 
there  can  be  no  failure.  When  Jesus  Christ  began  His 
work  at  Nazareth,  it  might  have  looked  to  a  worldly 
man  as  if  it  had  been  a  stupendous  failure.  He  was  re- 
jected ;  He  was  driven  out  of  the  city.  What  a  failure 
that  must  have  seemed  to  a  worldly  man,  or  a  man  who 


I/O  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

knew  nothing  about  the  plans  of  God.  Look  how  that 
sermon  has  come  down  the  ages — how  it  has  afforded 
good  cheer  to  the  people  of  God  ! 

The  next  thing  is  the  miracles.  Turn  to  Matthew  xii. 
28  :  "  If  I  cast  out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  then  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  com.e  unto  you."  He  had  been  cast- 
ing out  devils,  and  they  accused  Him  of  doing  it  by  the 
power  of  Beelzebub.  He  says  :  *'  It  is  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  I  have  done  this,"  He  raised  the  dead  by  the 
Spirit  that  came  upon  Him.  That  is  how  He  did  His 
work. 

Then  again,  in  i  Peter  iii.  18,  we  read  :  "  For  Christ 
also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust, 
that  He  might  bring  us  to  God,  being  put  to  death  in 
the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  Spirit." 

Now,  there  are  the  six  steps  I  want  to  call  your  attention 
to  :  His  conception  was  by  the  Spirit.  His  baptism  was 
into  the  Spirit,  as  well  as  in  the  water.  He  was  tempted, 
and  the  Spirit  was  there  in  His  temptation.  In  His 
preaching  the  Spirit  of  God  was  upon  Him.  Then  His 
miracles  :  we  find  that  it  was  by  the  Spirit  of  God  He 
performed  those  miracles.  And  His  resurrection  :  that 
dead  body  of  Jesus  Christ  was  raised  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
— by  the  same  power.  Six  things,  remember  :  Born  of 
the  Spirit,  that  is  the  first  thing.  There  is  no  spiritual 
life  until  we  are  born  of  God.  Let  every  one  take  this 
question  home  to  himself,  and  be  sure  that  he  is  born  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  wor- 
ship Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  But, 
then,  we  must  not  be  satisfied  merely  with  being  born 
of  the  Spirit.  We  must  have  power.  The  next  thing, 
then,  is.  Quickened  by  the  Spirit.  That  is  what  Christ 
was.  In  His  baptism  He  was  quickened.  We  need  the 
same  quickening.     The  third  step  is,  Sanctified  by  the 


CHRIST  AND   THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  171 

Spirit.  There  is  nothing  that  will  separate  us  from  the 
world  like  the  Spirit  of  God.  We  are  sanctified  by  the 
Spirit.  "Sanctify  them  through  Thy  Word  ;  Thy  Word 
is  truth."  And  the  Word  is  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit.  I 
used  to  be  terribly  confused  about  sanctification.  I 
suppose  I  had  hundreds  of  people  laboring  with  me, 
and  asking  me  :  "Are  you  wholly  sanctified  ?  "  Then  I 
would  go  to  work  and  try  to  get  what  they  called  sanc- 
tification. But  I  tell  you,  if  God  will  fill  me  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  is  the  short  cut  to  holiness.  If  the 
Lord  will  keep  me  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  will  let 
sanctification  take  care  of  itself.  It  is  a  command  that 
we  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  Every  one  of  us 
may  be  filled  if  we  will.  The  fourth  step  is.  Guided  by 
the  Spirit.  The  mistake  many  of  us  make  is  in  follow- 
ing our  own  will,  when  our  own  will  may  be  really  in 
opposition  to  God's  will.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to  put 
our  will  right  alongside  of  God's  will,  so  that  the  two 
will  move  in  the  same  direction.  "  My  yoke  is  easy." 
You  will  find  the  yoke  of  Christ  very  easy  when  the 
heart  is  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  Then  you  will 
understand  that  passage  :  "  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me  ;  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart  ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto 
your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  My  burden  is 
light."  Now,  if  a  young  man  finds  the  yoke  of  Christ 
galling,  what  is  the  trouble  ?  He  hasn't  got  enough  of 
the  Spirit.  That  is  the  trouble.  If  the  yoke  chafes,  he 
can't  be  wholly  sanctified.  You  remember  what  John 
the  Baptist  said  :  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  de- 
crease." I  want  to  tell  you  what  I  heard  Dr.  Bonar  say. 
He  says  :  "If  you  hear  a  man  all  the  time  talking  about 
jhimself,  you   may  know  that  he  is   not  filled  with  the 


172  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

Spirit  of  God.  He  is  filled  with  his  own  spirit ;  because 
when  a  man  is  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God  he  will  be 
talking  about  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  be  talking  about 
himself,"  He  said  :  "A  gentleman  came  to  me  to  labor 
with  me  and  get  me  into  the  'higher  life.'  For  an  hour 
that  man  was  with  me,  and  he  referred  to  himself  more 
than  a  hundred  times.  It  was  '  I— I — I.'  "  And  so  he 
said  :  "  I  can  always  tell  whether  a  man  has  got  the 
Spirit  of  God  or  has  got  some  other  spirit  by  the  way 
he  talks  about  himself."  The  nearer  I  get  to  God  the 
less  I  will  think  about  myself.  "He  must  increase,  but 
I  must  decrease."  Let  us  get  this  capital  I  abolished — 
get  it  out  of  the  way.  Then  we  will  not  only  be  filled 
with  the  Spirit,  but  be  guided  by  the  Spirit.  The  fifth 
step  is.  Led  by  the  Spirit.  Just  follow  the  Spirit  as  the 
children  of  Israel  followed  the  cloud  in  the  wilderness. 
When  the  cloud  moved,  they  moved  ;  and  when  the 
cloud  rested,  they  rested.  They  kept  their  eye  on  the 
cloud.  What  you  and  I  want  is  to  let  the  Spirit  of  God 
lead  us.  How  He  will  open  doors  of  usefulness  !  How 
He  will  lead  us  into  green  pastures  !  Let  us  learn  this 
lesson  :  not  to  be  led  by  the  flesh,  which  will  lead  you 
into  bondage  and  darkness  ;  but  be  led  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who  will  lead  you  out  into  liberty — lead  you  into 
fields  of  usefulness,  and  your  life  will  be  anything  but 
a  failure.  The  sixth  step  is.  The  Spirit  of  God  will 
strengthen  you.  There  are,  then,  these  six  steps  :  Born 
of  the  Spirit.  Quickened  by  the  Spirit.  Sanctified  by 
the  Spirit.  Guided  by  the  Spirit.  Led  by  the  Spirit. 
Strengthened  by  the  Spirit. 


CHAPTER  Xli. 

OPERATIONS   OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

Questions  Answered  by  Mr.  Moody — How  to  Empty  Oneself — Griev- 
ing the  Holy  Ghost— Pentecost  Again  Possible— A  Distinction 
Between  Indwelling  and  Enduement — Christians  With  and  With- 
out Power — Mode  of  Obtaining  the  Gift — The  Unpardonable 
Sin — Ancient  Manifestations  of  the  Spirit — Teaching  and  Preach- 
ing—Power Lost  and  Regained— The  Old  and  the  New  Man. 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Moody  having  invited  his  hear- 
ers to  send  him  written  questions,  proceeded  to  answer 
such  as  he  received  : 

Q.  How  can  I  empty  myself  ?  A.  That  is  impossible. 
You  can't  do  it,  any  more  than  you  can  fill  yourself.  I 
think  a  great  many  people  make  a  mistake  there.  They 
go  to  work  trying  to  empty  themselves,  and  then  when 
they  can't  do  it  they  get  discouraged.  If,  when  this 
building  was  put  up,  the  builder  hadn't  put  any  windows 
in,  it  would  have  been  folly  for  the  trustees  of  this  institu- 
tion to  have  got  a  hundred  men  to  come  here  with 
buckets  and  try  to  bale  out  the  darkness.  The  quickest 
way  to  get  the  darkness  out  is  to  let  the  light  in.  Just 
let  in  the  light.  Sometimes  I  have  used  this  illustration. 
[Here  Mr.  Moody  took  a  glass  in  his  hand.]  Say  that 
tumbler  is  filled  with  jealousy,  selfishness,  pride,  arro- 
gance— every  enemy  to  righteousness — and  we  go  to 
work  trying  to  get  selfishness  out,  and  pride  out ;  and 
we  work  on  and  work  on,  and  find  we  can't  do  it.   Well ; 

(173) 


174  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

God's  way  isn't  for  us  to  try  to  get  those  things  out.  But 
here  is  the  way.  [Taking  a  pitcher  of  water  in  his  hand, 
Mr.  Moody  filled  the  glass.]  That  is  the  way  God  wants 
us  to  let  Him  drive  these  things  out  of  our  hearts.  Hasn't 
He  said  :  "  I  will  pour  water  upon  the  dry  ground  "  ? 
Some  of  us  here  are  pretty  dry.  "  Blessed  are  they 
which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they 
shall  be  filled."  That  is  the  promise.  Christ  gave  it  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be 
born  of  the  Spirit,  but  that  isn't  all.  We  need  to  be 
filled.     "  Shall  be."     He  has  promised  to  fill  us. 

Q.  What  does  the  passage  mean  about  grieving  the 
Holy  Spirit  ?  A.  It  is  a  Christian  that  grieves  the  Spirit 
of  God.  An  unconverted  person  doesn't  grieve  the  Spirit, 
because  he  has  never  given  Him  access  to  his  heart. 
We  speak  about  grieving  a  friend.  We  don't  speak 
about  grieving  an  enemy.  People  of  the  world  resist 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  Christians  grieve  Him.  Let  us  turn  to 
the  4th  of  Ephesians  and  the  29th  verse  :  "  Let  no  cor- 
rupt communication  proceed  out  of  your  mouth,  but 
that  which  is  good  to  the  use  of  edifying,  that  it  may 
minister  grace  unto  the  hearers.  And  grieve  not  the 
Holy  Spirit,  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  re- 
demption." Now  notice  :  "  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath, 
and  anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil-speaking,  be  put  away 
from  you,  with  all  malice:  and  be  ye  kind,  one  to  another, 
tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  for 
Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  you."  It  seems  to  me  that 
Paul  throws  light  upon  that  very  thing.  Dissensions 
and  differences  always  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  have 
seen  how  a  blessed  work  in  a  church  has  all  been  spoiled 
by  differences  coming  in,  and  by  dissensions.  And  then, 
if  a  man  isn't  willing  to  confess  Christ,  that  is  grieving 
the  Spirit  of  God.     Then  again,  young  men  have  asked 


OPERATIONS  OP  THE  SPIRIT.  r/S 

me  this  question  :  "  Can  I  go  here  and  there — to  the 
theatre  or  the  ball-room  ? "  If  you  go,  and  find  when 
you  come  home  at  night  and  get  alone  in  your  closet 
with  your  Master  that  there  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  lean- 
ness, and  you  feel  you  have  spent  an  unprofitable  night, 
I  should  say  you  have  grieved  the  Spirit.  Confess  your 
wrong,  and  don't  go  and  do  it  again.  Don't  go  and 
ask  this  minister  and  that  if  it  is  right  to  go  here  or 
there,  but  just  make  up  your  mind  that  if  you  have 
spent  your  time  unprofitably  you  have  grieved  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  don't  do  it  again.  And  you  may  go 
into  the  company  of  scoffers  and  hear  a  number  of 
things  that  will  have  a  bad  effect  on  you.  That  will 
grieve  the  Spirit  of  God.  Get  out  of  their  society. 
Right  on  that  line  is  the  question  of  quenching  the 
Spirit.  Too  much  pleasure  will  quench  the  Spirit — too 
much  business,  too  many  cares— and  therefore  we  ought 
to  be  on  our  guard.  We  are  told  not  to  quench  the  Spirit. 
"  They  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation."  Now,  if  I 
am  out  on  a  desert,  and  I  have  got  a  fire,  and  there  is  a 
terrible  storm  coming,  and  my  life  depends  on  that  fire, 
how  I  will  take  care  of  it,  and  watch  over  it,  and  nurse 
it.  Our  spiritual  life  depends  a  good  deal  upon  us. 
We  must  be  careful  how  we  guard  this  life.  It  is  the 
most  precious  thing  we  have  down  here  in  this  world. 
We  want  to  be  on  guard  continually,  and  watchful. 

Q,  Didn't  the  Holy  Spirit  come  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost for  all  time,  and  are  we  to  pray  that  He  come 
again?  A.  I  think  it  is  perfectly  Scriptural  to  pray 
that  the  Spirit  may  come  in  power.  You  will  notice  in 
the  2d  chapter  of  Acts  that  when  the  Spirit  came  3,000 
people  were  converted.  That  was  a  great  day.  But 
turn  a  Httle  farther  on  in  Acts,  and  you  find  Peter  and 
John  arrested  and  brought  before  the  Sanhedrim.    They 


1/6  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

were  instructed  not  to  preach  any  more  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  What  did  they  do  ?  They  had 
another  prayer-meeting,  and  the  place  was  shaken  where 
they  were  praying,  and  they  went  into  the  temple  and 
began  to  preach  with  new  power  and  there  were  5,000 
people  converted.  Going  on  a  little  farther,  to  the  loth 
chapter,  we  find  Peter  down  in  Csesarea,  in  the  house  of 
Cornelius.  As  he  spake,  "  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all 
them  which  heard  the  word."  This  was  ten  years  after 
the  day  of  Pentecost.  I  believe  it  is  perfectly  Scriptural 
to  come  together  and  pray  that  the  Holy  Ghost  may 
fall  upon  us  ;  and  I  believe  if  the  Church  of  God  would 
rise  to  that  blessing,  we  might  have  Pentecostal  fire 
back  again,  and  we  would  soon  light  up  this  dark  world. 
Q.  Isn't  the  Holy  Spirit  in  every  believer  ?  A.  Yes  ; 
the  Spirit  dwells  in  every  true  believer,  but  we  may 
have  more  than  that.  There  are  some  men  that  I  be- 
lieve are  Christians — I  can't  doubt  that — but  they  have 
got  no  unction — no  power  ;  and  then  again,  there  are 
Christians  with  unction — with  power.  I  heard  a  man 
use  this  illustration.  He  said  he  saw  a  sign  on  a  build- 
ing :  ^'  This  store  is  to  rent  with  power  or  without  pow- 
er"— that  is,  with  steam  or  without  steam.  It  would 
be  a  good  thing  if  we  would  say  to  a  person  when  he 
wants  to  join  the  church  :  "  Do  you  want  to  be  one  of 
the  members  with  power  or  without  power?"  If  I  were 
the  pastor  of  a  church  and  some  one  wanted  to  be  a 
member  without  power,  I  think  I  would  say  :  "  We  have 
got  enough  of  that  kind  now."  It  is  the  privilege  of 
every  one  of  us  to  have  power.  But  we  have  got  to  pay 
the  price.  Do  you  know  what  the  price  is  ?  It  is  a 
complete  and  unconditional  surrender  to  God  for  any- 
thing. If  God  wants  me  to  leave  my  home  and  start 
for  Africa,  I  am  to  go.     That  is  what  it  means.     I  have 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  I77 

lived  long  enough  to  make  this  discovery — I  don't  know 
my  own  heart,  but  I  think  I  have  got  this  far — I  think 
if  Gabriel  should  come  and  tell  me  that  I  could  have 
my  own  will  in  everything,  and  I  might  have  my  own 
will  to  the  end  of  my  life,  I  would  say  in  an  instant, 
"  No  !  Let  the  Lord's  will  be  done."  If  the  Lord 
wanted  me  to  go  to  Africa  I  would  start  this  afternoon. 
I'd  rather  a  thousand  times  be  in  Africa  with  God  than 
to  be  in  America  without  Him.  The  trouble  is,  we  are 
afraid  to  surrender.  We  are  afraid  God  is  going  to  take 
away  our  health  or  our  pleasure.  Not  at  all.  He  is  a 
loving  Father.  The  fact  is,  God  can't  trust  us  with 
power.  Do  you  think  railroad  men  would  put  trains  in 
the  hands  of  madmen  ?  God  isn't  going  to  put  this 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  has  got  unholy  ambi- 
tion !  He  can't  do  that.  If  our  aim  is  to  give  glory  to 
God  He  can  trust  us  with  power. 

Q.  Can  we  expect  a  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  A 
Well  ;  I  will  not  talk  about  terms.  You  have  been  in 
some  meetings  before  now  when  it  seemed  as  if  the 
Spirit  of  God  just  brooded  over  you — where  you  felt  as 
Moses  must  have  felt  when  he  heard  the  voice  saying  : 
"  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place 
whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  You  have  been 
in  meetings  where  hundreds  were  under  deep  conviction 
of  sin,  and  the  unseen  world  seemed  to  be  more  of  a 
reality  than  the  world  we  are  living  in.  That  is  how 
God  works  through  the  Spirit.  I  think  it  is  perfectly 
Scriptural  to  pray  that  He  should  come  in  power  into 
our  midst. 

Q.  How  shall  I  set  out  to  get  this  power?  A.  Have 
just  one  desire.  Have  just  one  aim.  Let  everything 
else  go.  Make  everything  else  secondary.  Make  up 
your  mind  that  you  are  willing  to  lay  everything  else 


178  COLLEOE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTlIFIELb. 

aside  that  you  can  get  this  power.  Hunger  and  thirst 
for  it.  "  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be  filled." 

Q.  Is  there  any  danger  of  expecting  too  much  ?  A. 
No  ;  I  don't  think  so.  I  don't  think  we  expect 
enough.  I  will  tell  you  where  the  trouble  is.  We 
may  mark  out  a  way  for  God  to  give  us  the  bless- 
ing. We  may  set  the  time.  Now,  there  are  no  dates 
in  God's  promises.  There  are  no  two  persons  con- 
verted exactly  alike,  and  I  don't  suppose  any  two  per- 
sons get  this  power  exactly  alike.  A  great  many  people 
don't  come  to  Christ  because  some  member  of  the 
family — some  aunt  or  some  grandmother — had  a  certain 
experience,  and  they  are  expecting  the  same  kind  of  an 
experience.  That  is  a  great  mistake.  No  two  persons 
ever  looked  alike.  There  is  great  variety  in  this  world. 
Have  an  experience  of  your  own.  Ask  God  to  deal  with 
you  personally.  Christ  never  healed  two  men  alike. 
Suppose  the  man  He  healed  of  his  blindness  in  Jeru- 
salem is  walking  along  the  street.  Bartimeus,  we  will 
suppose,  comes  up  and  says  :  "  How  did  you  get  your 
sight  ?  "  The  man  says  :  "A  certain  man  named  Jesus 
— I  don't  know  who  He  was — took  pity  on  me.  He  spat 
on  the  ground  and  made  some  clay  and  filled  my  eyes." 
You'd  think  that  was  enough  to  put  out  his  eyes — to  fill 
them  with  clay.  "  Then  He  said  to  me,  *  Go  and  wash 
in  the  pool  of  Siloam.'  I  went  and  washed  and  received 
my  sight."  "  Why,"  says  Bartimeus,  "  I  don't  believe 
you  have  got  your  sight.  He  didn't  send  me  to  any 
pool.  He  just  spoke  and  I  saw."  You  can  run  all 
through  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  you  will  find 
no  two  are  alike.  That  is  a  lesson  for  us.  There  is  great 
variety  in  God's  Kingdom.  You  have  seen  those  little 
tin   soldiers,  haven't  you,  that  all  come  out  alike  ?     I 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  lyg 

suppose  if  we  were  making  men  we  would  make  all 
alike.  We'd  make  them  in  one  mould,  and  if  they  didn't 
fit  we'd  break  every  bone  in  them  to  make  them  fit  the 
mould.  [Laughter.]  God's  way  is  to  bless  you  accord- 
ing as  you  use  what  He  has  given  you  already.  Use 
what  you  have  got,  and  keep  looking  for  more,  and  it 
will  just  increase.  That  is- brought  out,  I  think,  in  the 
parable  of  the  talents. 

Q.  How  would  you  explain  the  unpardonable  sin  ? 
A.  I  think  that  really  explains  itself.  Just  turn  to  the 
1 2th  chapter  of  Matthew.  A  great  many  people  give 
themselves  up  to  remorse  and  despair.  I  meet  them  all 
over  the  country.  [Here  Mr.  Moody  read  Matt.  xii. 
22-27.]  I  read  that  to  show  that  this  sin  that  is  called 
unpardonable  is  connected  with  that  accusation  they 
brought  against  Christ  of  being  possessed  with  the 
prince  of  the  devils — the  lord  of  filth.  They  railed 
against  and  denied  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Turn 
to  Mark  iii.  22:  "And  the  scribes  which  came  down 
from  Jerusalem  said,  He  hath  Beelzebub,  and  by  the 
prince  of  the  devils  casteth  He  out  devils.  And  He 
called  them  unto  Him,  and  said  unto  them  in  parables, 
How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan  ?  .  .  .  .  Verily  I  say  unto 
you.  All  sins  shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons  of  men, 
and  blasphemies  wherewith  soever  they  shall  blaspheme: 
But  he  that  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  dam- 
nation." Now,  I  have  met  a  great  many  skeptics — I 
have  met  a  great  many  wicked  men  first  and  last — but 
I  never  met  a  man  who  thought  Christ  was  possessed 
with  a  devil.  Never  !  I  never  met  a  man  who  brought 
that  charge,  that  Christ  wrought  His  miracles  with  the 
power  of  the  devil.  But  a  great  many  people  have  got 
an  idea  that  this  terrible  statement  applies  to  them.     I 


I80  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

don't  go  into  a  town  but  I  meet  from  one  to  a  dozen, 
cases.  The  devil  is  tormenting  them  day  and  night. 
Why,  if  the  Spirit  of  God  had  left  them,  they  would  be 
as  dead  as  that  desk.  They  would  have  no  feeling  in 
the  matter.  The  very  fact  that  they  are  troubled  about 
their  sins  shows  that  the  Spirit  of  God  hasn't  left  them. 
Mr.  Trumbull,  what  do  you  say  about  this  ? 

Mr.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull — As  Mr.  Moody  says,  that 
question  is  continually  coming  up.  I  was  in  active  evan- 
gelistic work  a  good  many  years  ago,  and  especially  in 
looking  up  those  who  were  in  remote  districts,  from 
Maine  to  California,  and  I  will  say  this,  that  while  I 
have  had  personal  conversation  with  tens  of  thousands 
individually,  talking  with  them  about  their  souls,  I  have 
not  but  in  two  cases  met  those  w^ho  I  believed  had  com- 
mitted the  unpardonable  sin.  And  in  each  case  the  men 
were  perfectly  callous.  One  man  said  to  me,  when  I 
talked  with  him  and  wanted  him  to  have  his  children 
gathered  into  a  Sunday-school  :  "  I  believed  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  I  lived  in  His  service,  as  you  call  it, 
for  a  while,  but  I  found  Him  false,  and  the  whole  thing 
a  lie,  and  I  hate  Him,  and  I  hate  everything  connected 
with  Him,  and  I  hate  those  who  believe  in  Him."  With 
that  starting-point,  he  sat  there  before  me,  and  simply 
blasphemed  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He 
wanted  no  forgiveness — no  salvation.  He  was  in  per- 
sistent and  intelligent  hostility  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
How  can  such  a  man  be  saved  ? — for  there  is  no  other 
name  under  Heaven  or  among  men  whereby  we  can  be 
saved  but  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  when 
one  says  Jesus  Christ  shall  not  save  him,  there  is  no 
forgiveness  possible,  because  he  will  not  accept  the 
only  forgiveness  possible.  But  as  long  as  one  wants 
to  be  saved,  there  is  forgiveness  for  him.     When    one 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  l8l 

will  not  be  forgiven,  God  Himself  will  not  force  for- 
giveness. 

Q.  Did  not  the  Holy  Spirit  work  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment dispensation  ?  Is  this  the  only  time  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  worked  ?  A.  Certainly  not.  **  Holy  men  of 
God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Simeon  and  Anna  were  in  the  Spirit  when  the  infant 
Christ  was  brought  into  the  Temple.  The  Spirit 
wrought  miracles  before  the  time  of  Christ.  One  man 
— I  think  it  is  Mr.  Erdman — has  brought  out  this  idea. 
The  Spirit  of  God  worked  all  through  the  Old  Testa- 
ment period,  but  yet  there  is  a  prophecy  of  extraordi- 
nary gifts  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  time  of  the  Messiah.  He 
brings  out  five  different  points.  The  prophecy  is  in 
Joel  ii.  28  :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that 
I  will  pour  out  My  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  ;  and  your  sons 
and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy,  your  old  men  shall 
dream  dreams,  your  young  men  shall  see  visions  :  And 
also  upon  the  servants  and  upon  the  handmaids  in  those 
days  will  I  pour  out  My  Spirit."  The  first  thing  is, 
Upon  all  flesh.  Then,  From  on  high.  Isaiah  xxxii.  15: 
"  Until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and 
the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field 
be  counted  for  a  forest."  Next,  Upon  the  thirsty  :  Isaiah 
xliv.  3  :  "  For  I  will  pour  out  water  upon  him  that  is 
thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground  :  I  will  pour 
out  My  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  My  blessing  upon 
thine  offspring."  Next,  He  shall  be  in  you.  Ezekiel 
xxxvi.  27  :  "And  I  will  put  My  Spirit  within  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  My  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  My 
judgments,  and  do  them."  And  then.  Forever.  That  is 
in  Isaiah  lix.  21  :  "As  for  Me,  this  is  My  covenant  with 
them,  saith  the  Lord;  My  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and 
My  words  which  I  have  put  into  thy  mouth,  shall  not 


1 82  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the 
Lord,  from  henceforth  and  forever."  I  think  the  Spirit 
of  God,  of  course,  worked  in  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation ;  but  He  works  in  a  different  way  now  from 
what  He  did  then. 

Q.  Is  the  Holy  Spirit  always  manifested  by  the  con- 
version of  sinners  ?  May  not  one  fail  of  much  result 
and  still  have  the  Spirit  ?  A.  I  think  that  is  quite  true. 
There  are  some  people  that  have  a  gift  to  teach  and 
have  no  gift  to  preach  ;  and  again,  there  are  other  men 
that  have  got  great  gifts  for  preaching,  but  they  are  not 
"  apt  to  teach."  There  are  some  men  not  blessed  with 
many  conversions,  and  yet  the  Spirit  of  God  is  with 
them.  At  the  same  time,  we  are  to  look  for  results. 
^'  Herein  is  My  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit." 
I  don't  know  but  that  a  man  who  prepares  others  to 
preach  is  doing  as  much  good  as  if  he  were  preaching 
himself,  because  he  is  constantly  reproducing  himself. 
I  believe  that  what  we  want  in  this  country  to-day  is 
more  teaching  and  less  preaching — or  perhaps  as  much 
preaching,  but  certainly  more  teaching.  There  are  a 
great  many  sermons  that  are  all  exhortation.  Some- 
times you  can  go  into  a  meeting  and  there  isn't  an  un- 
converted person  there,  and  some  one  will  get  up  and 
deliver  a  sermon  to  the  unconverted.  Now,  a  man 
needs  the  Spirit  of  God  to  teach  as  much  as  he  does  to 
preach.  If  he  is  building  up  those  that  are  in  the  king- 
dom of  God,  he  is  doing  a  work  that  is  just  as  import- 
ant, if  not  more  so. 

Q.  We  sometimes  hear  ministers  refer  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  "  it,"  or  as  an  influence,  and  all  that.  Is  that 
right  ?  A.  You  will  notice  that  the  Bible  always  speaks 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  person.    "  When  He  shall  come," 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  183 

'''■  Himy  In  Christ's  own  teaching — in  the  14th,  15th, 
i6th,  and  17th  of  John,  where  He  is  teaching  so  much 
about  the  Spirit — you  will  find  that  four  or  five  times 
He  speaks  of  Him  as  a  person.  "When  He  is  come  He 
will  convince  the  world  of  sin."  He^WX  do  this  or  that. 
He  is  always  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  a  person,  and 
not  just  as  a  mere  influence. 

Q.  Need  any  one  expect  the  power  of  the  Spirit  for 
service  who  is  not  serving  God  with  the  power  he  has 
already  ?  A.  Certainly  not.  God  is  not  going  to  waste 
His  grace.  Is  God  going  to  waste  His  power  ?  If  we 
use  all  the  grace  God  has  given  us,  and  hunger  and 
thirst  for  more — if  we  want  more  power,  and  make  good 
use  of  what  power  God  has  already  given  us,  and  walk 
consistently,  He  will  increase  that  power.  But  if  a  man 
buries  his  gift  he  can't  expect  to  have  the  gift  increased- 

Q.  Is  there  a  difference  between  being  born  of  the 
Spirit  and  being  anointed  by  the  Spirit  ?  A.  It  strikes 
me  there  is  a  difference,  and  yet  when  a  man  is  born  of 
the  Spirit  he  may  at  the  same  time  receive  an  anointing 
— a  great  anointing — and  be  ready  to  go  to  work.  The 
disciples  must  have  been  "born  of  the  Spirit,  or  they 
wouldn't  have  left  their  fishing-smacks  and  followed  a 
stranger,  who  had  nothing  to  offer  them  apparently,  and 
whose  own  end  was  death.  Undoubtedly  the  disciples 
experienced  a  work  of  the  Spirit  when  they  followed 
Christ ;  yet  He  tells  them  that  they  are  to  wait  till  they 
are  endued  with  power.  It  is  clearly  taught  that  they 
did  wait  till  they  received  that  power.  I  m.ake  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  Spirit  of  God  in  a  man  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  on  him.  I  may  have  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelling  in  me,  but  I  can't  have  unction  in  service  till  I 
have  the  Spirit  of  God  on  me.  What  we  want  is  not  to 
be  satisfied  till  we  get  power.     Get  this  power,  and  you 


1 84  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

will  do  more  good  in  one  week  than  you  could  do  with- 
out it  in  many  years.  Jonathan  Edwards  said  there  was 
more  done  down  here  in  Northampton  in  one  week  than 
there  had  been  in  seven  years  when  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  in  power  and  Christians  were  quickened. 

Q.  How  do  you  account  for  men  losing  power  who 
were  once  used  by  God  mightily?  A.  Well;  Samson 
lost  his  strength,  and  you  know  how  he  lost  it — through 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  The  old  man  isn't  dead.  We  are 
to  reckon  him  dead.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  difference 
between  reckoning  a  man  dead  and  knowing  that  he  is 
really  dead.  I  am  to  put  the  old  man  in  the  place  of 
death,  and  keep  him  there,  and  keep  my  body  under. 
If  I  don't  keep  my  body  under,  sin  is  going  to  get  me 
under.  That  is  how  it  was  with  Samson.  He  was  a 
giant — had  mighty  power  ;  yet  he  lost  it  because  he  fell 
into  sin.  But  there  is  one  consolation  about  Samson  : 
they  didn't  pull  his  hair  out  by  the  roots  ;  it  grew  again. 
And  there  are  men  who  have  lost  their  power,  but,  thank 
God,  they  can  get  it  back.  Peter  lost  his  ;  but  I  tell 
you  he  got  it  back  when  he  stood  up  there  and  preached 
to  those  Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  He  could  never 
have  spoken  as  he  did  if  he  hadn't  known  what  it  was 
to  be  overcome  by  sin.  Bear  in  mind  that  greater  re- 
sults followed  Peter's  preaching  than  that  of  any  other 
man.  He  was  a  restored  backslider.  Bear  that  in  mind; 
and  when  you  see  a  man  that  has  been  used  by  God,  and 
has  fallen  back,  don't  give  him  up.  If  he  repents,  God 
can  use  him  a  thousand  times  more  than  before.  Look 
at  David.  Probably  we  should  never  have  had  the  ^26. 
Psalm  and  the  51st  Psalm  if  it  hadn't  been  for  David's 
fall.  Whal  a  blessing  those  psalms  have  been  to  the 
people  of  God  all  through  the  ages — written  by  a  re- 
stored backslider. 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  1 85 

A  Voice — You  speak  of  a  distinction  between  a  per- 
son being  dead  and  being  reckoned  dead.  What  is  the 
meaning  of  that  passage  in  the  third  of  Colossians: 
"  For  ye  are  dead  "  ? 

Mr.  Moody — That  means  that  we  are  judicially  dead. 
It  must  mean  that  the  old  man  is  judicially  dead,  be- 
cause my  experience  is  that  he  is  not  dead.  Some  one 
said  to  a  Scotchman  :  "  Have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
old  man.  Just  let  him  alone."  "  Ah,"  said  the  Scotch- 
man, "  but  he  won't  let  me  alone.  If  I  try  to  cut  his  ac- 
quaintance, he  won't  cut  mine."  You  may  think  the  old 
man  is  dead,  but  by  and  by  up  comes  your  temper.  The 
first  two  or  three  years  after  I  was  converted  I  was  a 
mystery  to  myself.  I  was  a  contradiction.  I  couldn't 
understand  myself.  Thank  God  I  never  lost  sight  of 
Jesus  Christ  since  I  first  met  Him — I  never  lost  my  hope 
in  Jesus  Christ — but  I  tell  you,  I  was  an  awful  mystery 
to  myself.  I  thought  when  I  was  converted  that  my 
temper  was  gone.  Such  a  gush  of  love  came  into  my 
soul  that  I  felt  as  if  some  mighty  current  was  sweeping 
me  right  into  Heaven  ;  but  I  soon  found  that  I  had  a 
battle  on  hand.  I  had  got  to  overcome  sin,  or  sin  would 
overcome  me.  I'd  got  to  fight  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil  all  the  while — and  I  think,  after  all  these 
years,  that  the  flesh  is  the  meanest  of  the  lot.  I  have  a 
good  deal  of  sympathy  with  that  man  who  said  :  "  Re- 
sist the  devil  and  he  will  flee  from  you  ;  but  resist  the 
flesh  and  it  still  clings  to  you."  I  am  to  reckon  myself 
crucified  with  Jesus  Christ — I  am  to  reckon  that  I  stand 
on  resurrection  ground — death  and  the  judgment  are  all 
behind  me,  and  I  am  an  heir  of  glory  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  I  am  down  here  in  the  flesh  yet,  and  if  I  don't  watch 
the  flesh  and  don't  keep  myself  under — keep  the  body 
under— then  he  is  going  to  get  the  victory  over  me.     I 


1 86  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

think  that  is  the  teaching  of  Scripture.  That  is  the 
teaching  of  the  7th  and  8th  chapters  of  Romans,  where 
it  is  clearly  brought  out  that  we  have  a  lower  nature  and 
a  higher  nature — the  old  nature  sinning,  and  the  new  na- 
ture condemning.  Very  often  you  hear  men  saying  they 
have  got  a  complete  victory  over  themselves  ;  but  they 
haven't  got  to  the  bottom  of  their  hearts.  By-and-by  they 
will  find  something  they  never  thought  was  there.  When 
I  hear  a  man  say,  "  I  love  God,  with  all  my  heart,"  I  say, 
"  As  far  as  he  knows  it."  It's  awfully  deceiving.  Oh,  the 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked. 
Who  knows  his  own  heart?  So  I  believe  that  when 
Paul  says,  "  Reckon  yourselves  dead,"  he  means  :  ''  Put 
yourselves  in  the  place  of  death,  and  keep  yourselves 
right  there,  and  if  the  flesh  comes  up  and  asserts  its  su- 
premacy over  you,  just  say  :  '  No  ;  I  have  got  another 
master.  I  will  not  let  the  flesh  reign  over  me  ! ' "  I 
think  some  people  have  a  good  deal  more  trouble  than 
others.  I  have  great  respect  for  a  man  that  has  got  a 
mean,  contemptible  nature  and  overcomes  it.  I  have  a 
great  respect  for  Jacob.  He  is  a  sort  of  twin  brother 
of  mine.  I  think  there  are  very  few  Josephs.  If  there 
are  many  I  don't  meet  them  ;  but  I  meet  lots  of  Jacobs. 

Another  Voice — What  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  : 
"  Now  then  it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dwell- 
eth  in  me  "  ? 

Mr.  Moody — It  wasn't  him — it  was  the  old  man  in 
him.  A  man  was  once  brought  into  court,  and  he  said 
he  hadn't  done  the  thing  he  was  charged  with  ;  it  was 
the  old  man  in  him.  *' Well,"  the  judge  said  ;  "  I'll  send 
the  old  man  to  prison,  and  the  new  man  can  go  where 
he's  a  mind  to."  You  may  have  heard  of  the  little  child 
that  went  for  berries  when  she  had  been  told  not  to. 
Her  mother  said  :  "  Why  did  you  go  into  those  berry 


OPERATIONS   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  187 

bushes  after  I  had  said  you  mustn't  ? "  "  Well,"  said  the 
child  ;  "  the  devil  pushed  me  right  in."  A  good  many 
people  excuse  themselves  in  that  way.  There's  a  battle 
that  rages  all  the  while  between  me  and  the  temptations 
of  the  flesh,  and  I  am  either  to  overcome  them  or  they 
will  overcome  me.  That  is  the  question  for  me  to  set- 
tle. There  may  be  a  man  here  saying  :  "  I  never  had  a 
conflict."  That  is  a  true  sign  that  you  never  have  been 
born  of  the  Spirit.  The  moment  a  man  is  born 
again,  a  great  conflict  begins.  "  The  flesh  lusteth 
against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh." 
1  never  had  a  conflict  with  myself  till  I  was  born  of 
the  Spirit.  I  had  a  pretty  good  opinion  of  myself. 
That  was  the  trouble  with  the  elder  brother.  Talk 
to  people  that  have  never  been  born  of  the  Spirit, 
and  they  will  say :  *'  I  never  did  anything  wrong." 
Talk  to  them  about  an  inward  conflict  and  they  will  say: 
"  I  don't  know  anything  about  it."  You  may  have  heard 
the  story  of  an  old  judge  who  had  a  slave  that  was  a 
Christian.  The  judge  was  an  infidel.  The  slave  often 
talked  about  the  battles  he  was  having  with  the  devil. 
One  day  the  judge  was  driving  on  his  circuit  with  the 
slave,  and  said  to  him  :  "  You  are  all  the  time  talking 
about  the  conflict  you  are  having  with  the  devil.  Now 
/  don't  have  any  conflict  with  the  devil.  I  must  be  a 
good  deal  better  than  you  are."  The  poor  colored  man 
didn't  understand  anything  about  those  two  natures — 
he  didn't  know  much  about  the  Bible — but  he  knew 
there  was  a  conflict.  He  couldn't  make  any  answer  just 
then  ;  but  pretty  soon  they  came  to  a  place  where  they 
saw  some  ducks.  The  judge  took  up  his  gun  and  shot 
at  them.  Looking  to  see  the  result,  they  found  that 
there  was  only  one  dead,  but  there  was  a  wounded  duck 
struggling  in  the  water.     The  slave  went  to  bring  in  the 


1 88  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

birds.  He  was  going  to  bring  the  dead  one,  when  the 
judge  shouted  :  ''Let  that  duck  go.  Go  quick  and  get 
the  wounded  duck."  The  slave  went  after  the  wounded 
duck,  and  then  on  his  way  back  brought  the  dead  one 
too.  When  he  got  to  the  carriage  he  said  :  "  Ah,  massa  ; 
I  can  explain  the  matter  now.  You  are  like  the  dead 
duck.  The  devil  has  got  you  anyway.  I  am  like  the 
wounded  duck,  and  the  devil  is  trying  to  get  me."  If  a 
man  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  the  devil  lets  him 
alone.  But  if  he  is  born  of  God,  there  is  a  conflict  in 
him  between  the  lower  nature  and  the  higher  nature.  I 
don't  know  of  anything  I  get  so  much  comfort  out  of  as 
the  doctrine  that  I  am  a  partaker  of  God's  nature — that 
I  have  God's  nature  in  me.  It  is  hard  for  a  man  to 
serve  God  before  he  has  got  that  nature.  You  might  as 
well  ask  him  to  jump  over  the  sun.  "  God  is  a  Spirit, 
and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth."  You  cannot  do  that  unless  you  have  the 
Spirit  of  God. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

FIGHTING    THE    GOOD    FIGHT. 

Address  by  Mr.  Moody  on  "  Overcoming" — Instances  of  Failure  in 
One's  Strongest  Point — Triumphs  of  Faith — A  Three-Fold  Battle 
— Our  Enemies :  The  World,  the  Flesh,  and  the  Devil — Their 
Deadly  Power — Enemies  Within  and  Without — A  Desperate  Con- 
flict— Encouragement — The  Eight  "  Overcomes"  of  Revelation. 

I  WOULD  like  to  have  you  open  your  Bibles  and  turn 
to  ist  John,  5th  chapter,  and  the  4th  and  5th  verses  : 
"  For  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world  : 
and  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even 
our  faith.  Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world,  but 
he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God."  I  want 
to  talk  to  you  a  little  while  this  morning  about  over- 
coming. When  a  battle  is  fought,  all  are  anxious  to 
know  who  are  the  victors.  In  these  verses  we  are  told 
who  is  to  get  this  victory  of  life.  When  I  was  converted 
I  made  this  mistake  :  I  thought  the  battle  was  already 
mine.  I  thought  the  victory  was  won — the  crown  was 
already  mine.  But  I  found  out  after  serving  Christ  for 
a  few  months  that  there  was  a  battle  on  hand,  and  that 
if  I  was  to  get  a  crown  I  had  got  to  fight  for  it — got  to 
work  for  it.  Salvation  is  a  gift.  "  To  him  that  worketh 
not,  but  believeth  on  Him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly, 
his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness."  You  get  that  as 
you  would  get  any  other  gift.  But  if  you  get  a  reward, 
that  comes  from  service  ;  and  it  is  folly  for  any  man  to 
attempt  to  fight  this  battle  in  his  own  strength — in  his 

(189) 


IQO  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

own  name.  The  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  are  too 
much  for  any  man,  I  don't  care  who  he  is.  But  if  we 
have  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  linked  with  Him,  and 
Christ  is  formed  in  us,  the  hope  of  glory — then  it  is  we 
get  the  victory  over  every  enemy.  That  brings  me  to 
the  4th  verse  of  the  4th  chapter  of  the  same  Epistle  : 
"  Ye  are  of  God,  little  children,  and  have  overcome 
them  :  because  greater  is  He  that  is  within  you  than  he 
that  is  in  the  w^orld."  The  only  man  that  ever  con- 
quered this  world — was  complete  victor — was  Jesus 
Christ.  When  He  shouted  on  the  cross,  "  It  is  fin- 
ished !  "  it  was  a  shout  of  victory — it  was  the  shout  of 
a  conqueror.  He  had  overcome  every  enemy.  He  had 
met  sin,  and  death,  and  the  grave — He  had  met  every 
foe  that  you  and  I  have  got  to  meet — and  had  come  off 
victor.  Now,  if  I  have  got  Christ — if  I  have  got  that 
same  life — in  me,  then  it  is  that  I  have  got  a  power  that 
is  greater  than  any  power  that  is  in  the  world,  and  with 
that  same  power  I  overcome  the  world.  Young  men, 
notice  that  everything  human  in  this  world  fails.  Every 
man,  the  moment  he  takes  his  eye  off  from  God,  has 
failed.  Every  man  has  been  a  failure  at  some  period  of 
his  life.  Abraham  failed.  Moses  failed.  Elijah  failed. 
Take  the  men  that  have  become  so  famous  and  that 
were  so  mighty — the  moment  they  got  their  eye  off  from 
God  they  were  weak  like  other  men  ;  and  it  is  a  very 
singular  thing  that  those  men  failed  on  the  strongest 
point  in  their  character.  Abraham  was  noted  for  his 
faith,  and  he  failed  right  there — he  denied  his  wife. 
Moses  was  noted  for  his  humility,  and  he  failed  right 
there — he  got  angry,  and  was  kept  out  of  the  promised 
land  because  he  lost  his  temper.  I  know  he  was  called 
"  the  servant  of  God,"  and  that  he  was  a  mighty  man, 
and  had  power  with  God,  but,  humanly  speaking,  he 


FIGHTING  THE  GOOD   FIGHT.  I9I 

failed,  and  was  kept  out  of  the  promised  land.  Take 
Elijah.  He  was  the  boldest  man  of  his  day,  and  stood 
before  Ahab,  and  the  royal  court,  and  all  the  prophets 
of  Baal ;  yet  when  he  heard  that  Jezebel  had  threatened 
his  life,  he  ran  away  to  the  desert,  and  under  a  juniper 
tree  prayed  that  he  might  die.  Look  at  Peter— the 
boldest  of  the  disciples.  A  young  maid  frightened  him 
almost  out  of  his  life.  As  soon  as  she  spoke  about  him 
he  began  to  tremble,  and  he  swore  that  he  didn't  know 
Christ.  I  have  often  said  to  myself  that  I'd  like  to  have 
been  there  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  alongside  of  that 
maid  when  she  saw  Peter  preaching.  "  Why,"  I  suppose 
she  said  ;  "  what  has  come  over  that  man  ?  He  was 
afraid  of  me  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  now  he  stands 
up  before  all  Jerusalem,  and  charges  those  Jews  with 
the  murder  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  moment  he  got  his 
eye  off  the  Master  he  failed  ;  and  every  man,  I  don't 
care  who  he  is — even  the  strongest — every  man  that 
hasn't  Christ  in  him,  is  a  failure.  John,  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple, was  noted  for  his  meekness  ;  and  yet  we  hear  of 
him  wanting  to  call  fire  down  from  Heaven  on  a  little 
town  because  it  had  refused  the  common  hospitalities. 

Now,  how  are  we  to  get  the  victory  over  all  these 
enemies  ?  Turn  to  Galatians  ii.  '20  :  "  I  was  crucified 
with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live  ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me  :  and  the  life  which  I  live  in  the  flesh,  I 
live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  :  and 
gave  Himself  for  me."  We  live  by  faith.  We  get  this 
life  by  faith,  and  become  linked  to  the  Emmanuel — 
"  God  with  us."  If  I  have  God  for  me,  I  am  going  to 
overcome.  How  do  we  gain  this  mighty  power  ?  By 
faith.  The  next  passage  I  want  to  call  your  attention 
to  is  Romans  xi.  20  :  "  Because  of  unbelief  they  were 
broken  off  ;  and  thou  standest  by  faith.     Be  not  high- 


192  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

minded,  but  fear."  The  Jews  were  cut  off  on  account 
of  their  unbelief.  We  were  grafted  in  on  account  of 
our  belief.  So  notice  :  We  live  by  faith,  and  we  stand 
by  faith.  The  next  thing  is  :  We  walk  by  faith.  2  Cor- 
inthians V.  7  :  "  For  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight." 
The  most  faulty  Christians  I  know  of  are  those  who 
want  to  walk  by  sight.  They  want  to  see  the  end — how 
a  thing  is  going  to  come  out.  That  isn't  walking  by 
faith  at  all — that  is  walking  by  sight.  I  think  the  char- 
acters that  represent  this  difference  are  Joseph  and  Ja- 
cob. Jacob  was  a  man  who  walked  with  God  by  sight. 
He  never  could  have  gone  through  the  temptations  and 
trials  that  his  son  Joseph  did.  Joseph  represents  a 
higher  type  of  Christian.  He  could  walk  in  the  dark. 
Lot  and  Abraham  are  a  good  illustration.  Lot  turned 
away  from  Abraham  and  tented  on  the  plains  of  Sodom. 
He  should  have  stayed  with  Abraham.  He  was  a  weak 
character,  and  he  should  have  kept  with  Abraham  in 
order  to  get  strong.  A  good  many  men  are  just  like 
that.  As  long  as  their  mothers  are  living,  or  they  are 
bolstered  up  by  some  godly  person,  they  get  along  very 
well  ;  but  they  can't  stand  alone.  Lot  walked  by  sight  ; 
but  Abraham  walked  by  faith.  And  now  :  We  fight  by 
faith.-  Ephesians  vi.  16  :  "Above  all,  taking  the  shield 
of  faith,  whereby  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery 
darts  of  the  wicked."  Every  dart  Satan  can  fire  at  us 
we  can  quench  by  faith.  By  faith  we  can  overcome  the 
Evil  One. 

Turn  to  i  John  ii.  15.  Dr.  McKenzie  was  trying  to 
show  you,  a  few  days  ago,  how  the  first  chapter  of  John's 
Gospel  and  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  corresponded.  I 
want  to  show  you  how  this  Epistle  of  John  and  the  first 
part  of  Genesis  correspond.  "  Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  that  are  in   the  world.     If  any   man 


FIGHTING  THE   GOOD   FIGHT.  1 93 

iove  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 
Now,  people  want  to  know  what  is  the  world.  When 
you  talk  with  them  about  the  world  they  say  :  ''  Well, 
when  you  say  '  the  world,'  what  do  you  mean?"  Here 
we  have  the  answer  in  the  next  verse  :  "  For  all  that  is 
in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the 
eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of 
the  world.  And  the  world  passeth  away,  and  the  lust 
thereof  :  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  for- 
ever." Turn  now  to  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis  and 
the  6th  verse.  You  will  notice  there  those  three  things 
in  John  :  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life.  "  And  when  the  woman  saw  that  the 
tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  pleasant  to  the 
eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise,  she 
took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat  ;  and  gave  also 
unto  her  husband  with  her,  and  he  did  eat."  Notice 
three  things  there.  "  Good  for  food."  That  is  the  lust 
of  the  flesh.  Second  :  "Pleasant  to  the  eyes."  That  is 
the  lust  of  the  eyes.  Third  :  "  To  make  one  wise." 
That  is  the  pride  of  life.  So  you  see  that  the  same 
thing  brought  out  in  the  first  Epistle  of  John  is  brought 
out  in  Genesis.  The  battle  rages  really  on  those  three 
lines.  You  and  I  have  got  to  overcome  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life. 
Most  of  you  are  too  young  to  remember,  but  some  of  the 
older  people  here  can  remember  when  our  war  broke 
out.  Secretary  Seward,  who  was  Lincoln's  Secretary  of 
State — a  long-headed  and  shrewd  politician — came  out 
with  a  prophecy  that  the  war  would  be  over  in  ninety 
days  ;  and  young  men  in  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  came  forward  and  volunteered  to  go  down  to 
Dixie  and  whip  the  South.  They  thought  they  would 
be  back  in  ninety  days  ;  but  the  war  lasted  four  yearf 


194  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

and  cost  about  half  a  million  of  lives.  What  was  the 
matter  ?  Why  ;  the  South  was  a  good  deal  stronger 
than  the  North  supposed.  Its  strength  was  underesti- 
mated. And  that  is  the  reason  why  so  many  Christians 
fail  all  through  life — they  underestimate  the  strength  of 
the  enemy.  My  dear  friends,  you  and  I  have  got  a  terrible 
enemy  to  contend  with.  Don't  let  Satan  deceive  you. 
It  is  a  warfare.  Nearly  everything  we  see  has  a  tendency 
to  draw  us  away  from  God.  We  have  enemies  within 
and  without. 

What  are  our  enemies  from  without  ?  For  one  thing, 
worldly  habits  and  fashions.  I  am  to  go  against  the 
customs  of  the  world.  I  have  great  respect  for  a  man 
who  can  stand  up  for  what  he  believes  is  right  against  all 
the  world.  A  man  who  can  stand  alone  is  a  hero. 
There  are  a  good  many  times  in  your  college  life  when 
you  have  got  to  go  against  some  custom.  Perhaps  it  is 
fashionable  to  drink  wine,  and  you  have  conscientious 
scruples  against  drinking  wine.  You  have  got  to  take 
your  stand,  and  you  need  all  your  courage.  Suppose  it 
is  the  custom  for  young  men  to  do  certain  things  you 
wouldn't  like  your  mother  to  know  of — things  that  your 
mother  taught  you  were  wrong.  You  may  have  to 
stand  up  alone  among  all  your  companions.  They  will 
say :  "You  can't  get  away  from  your  mother,  eh  ?  Tied 
to  your  mother's  apron-strings  !  "  But  just  you  say  : 
"  Yes  !  I  have  some  respect  for  my  mother  ;  she  taught 
me  what  is  right,  and  she  is  the  best  friend  I  have.  I 
believe  that  is  wrong,  and  I  am  going  to  stand  for  the 
right,"  What  young  men  want  to  do  is  to  take  their 
stand  for  the  right,  and  if  they  have  got  to  stand  alone, 
to  stand.  Another  enemy  is  worldly  pleasure.  A  great 
many  people  are  just  drowned  in  pleasure.  They  have 
no  time  for  any  meditation  at  all.     Then  again,  there 


FIGHTING  THE  GOOD  FIGHT.  1 95 

are  a  great  many  men  who  go  into  business  and  think  of 
nothing  else.  You  have  got  to  overcome  these  enemies 
and  get  the  mastery  over  them,  or  they  will  get  the 
mastery  over  you  !  Are  you  going  to  have  the  mastery 
over  pleasure,  or  let  pleasure  get  the  mastery  over  you  ? 
Will  you  have  the  victory  over  business,  or  business 
over  you  ?  And  custom,  fashion,  and  all  that — are  you 
going  to  be  a  slave  to  these  things,  or  are  you  going  to 
bring  them  into  captivity  and  subjection  ? 

Take  the  enemies  that  come  from  within — what  are 
they  ?  Well  ;  there  is  appetite.  How  many  young  men 
in  our  colleges  are  just  ruined  by  the  appetite  for  strong 
drink  !  That  is  their  appetite,  and  they  are  wrecked. 
Many  a  young  man  has  gone  up  to  some  university,  and 
instead  if  being  a  blessing  to  his  father  and  mother,  has 
been  a  curse  to  them.  Let  me  say  right  here  :  I  have 
been  working  a  good  deal  with  drinking  men,  and  I 
think  the  rest  of  my  work  will  be  with  the  young.  Once 
in  a  while  a  drunkard  may  stand  up  for  a  time  and  keep 
away  from  the  cup  ;  but  it  takes  all  his  strength  and  all 
his  time  to  fight  against  the  habit.  It  is  a  good  deal 
better  to  begin  when  you  are  young  and  never  get  the 
appetite  fastened  on  you.  Then  there  is  the  lust  of  the 
flesh.  How  many  men  are  ruined  by  the  accursed  sin 
of  adultery,  or  impure  thoughts  !  We  are  to  bring  every 
appetite  into  subjection.  We  are  to  get  the  victory 
over  our  lusts  and  passions,  and  not  let  them  get  the 
victory  over  us.  Don't  let  any  man  think  he  can  con- 
quer the  world  until  he  has  conquered  himself  first. 
Then  there  is  temper.  I  wouldn't  give  much  for  a  man 
that  hasn't  temper.  Steel  isn't  good  for  anything  if  it 
hasn't  got  temper.  But  when  temper  gets  the  mastery 
over  me  I  am  a  slave  to  my  temper,  and  it  is  a  source  of 
weakness.     It  may  be  made  a  great  power  for  good  all 


196  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

through  my  life,  and  help  me  ;  or  it  may  become  my 
greatest  enemy  from  within,  and  rob  me  of  power.  I 
must  keep  it  under  control.  Take  the  sin  of  covetous- 
ness.  There  is  more  said  in  the  Bible  against  covetous- 
ness  than  against  drunkenness.  I  am  to  get  that  out  of 
me — destroy  it,  root  and  branch,  and  not  let  it  have  do- 
minion over  me.  I  am  not  to  become  a  covetous  man. 
Do  you  say  :  ''  How  am  I  going  to  check  covetousness  ?  " 
Well  ;  I  don't  think  there  is  any  difficulty  about  that. 
If  you  find  yourself  getting  very  covetous — very  miserly 
— wanting  to  get  everything  you  can  into  your  posses- 
sion— just  begin  to  scatter.  Just  say  to  covetousness 
that  you  will  strangle  it,  and  rid  it  out  of  your  disposi- 
tion. That  is  a  thing  we  want  to  overcome.  And  then 
there  is  deceit  and  jealousy,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
Those  are  enemies  that  come  from  within.  They  have 
all  got  to  be  overcome.  And  bear  this  in  mind  :  Every 
temptation  you  overcome  makes  you  stronger  to  over- 
come others,  while  every  temptation  that  defeats  you 
makes  you  weaker.  You  can  become  weaker  and 
weaker,  or  you  can  become  stronger  and  stronger.  How 
many  men  have  been  overcome  by  some  little  thing. 
Sometimes  you  can  brace  yourself  up  against  a  great 
temptation  ;  and  almost  before  you  know  it  you  fall  be- 
fore some  little  thing.  A  great  many  men  are  overcome 
by  a  little  persecution.  Do  you  know,  I  don't  think 
we  have  enough  persecution  nowadays.  Some  people 
say  we  have  persecution  that  is  just  as  hard  to  bear  as 
in  the  Dark  Ages.  Anyway,  I  think  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  we  had  a  little  of  the  old-fashioned  persecution 
just  now.  It  would  bring  out  the  strongest  characters 
and  make  us  all  healthier.  I  have  heard  men  get  up  in 
prayer-meeting  and  say  they  were  going  to  make  a  few 
remarks,  and  then  keep  on  till  you  would  think  they 


FIGHTING  THE   GOOD   FIGHT.  197 

were  going  to  talk  all  week.  If  we  had  a  little  persecu- 
tion, people  of  that  kind  wouldn't  talk  so  much.  If 
there  were  a  few  stakes  for  burning  Christians,  1  think 
it  would  take  all  the  piety  out  of  some  men.  I  admit 
they  haven't  got  much  ;  but  then  if  you  are  not  willing 
to  suffer  a  little  persecution  for  Christ,  you  are  not  fit 
to  be  His  disciple.  We  are  told:  "All  that  will  live 
godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution."  Make 
up  your  mind  to  this  :  If  the  world  has  nothing  to  say 
against  you,  Jesus  Christ  will  have  nothing  to  say  for 
you.  A  great  many  shrink  from  the  Christian  life  be- 
cause they  will  be  sneered  at.  And  then,  sometimes 
when  persecution  won't  bring  a  man  down,  flattery  will. 
Foolish  persons  often  come  up  to  a  man  after  he  has 
spoken  and  flatter  him.  Sometimes  ladies  do  that. 
Perhaps  they  will  say  to  some  worker  in  the  church  : 
"  You  talk  a  great  deal  better  than  so-and-so  ";  and  he 
becomes  proud,  and  begins  to  strut  around  as  if  he  was 
the  most  important  person  in  the  town.  I  tell  you,  we 
have  a  wily  devil  to  contend  with.  If  he  can't  overcome 
you  with  opposition,  he  will  try  flattery  or  ambition  ; 
and  if  that  doesn't  serve  his  purpose,  perhaps  there  will 
come  some  affliction  or  disappointment,  and  he  will 
overcome  you  in  that  way.  But  I  want  you  to  remem- 
ber that  any  one  that  has  got  Christ  to  help  him  can 
overcome  every  foe,  and  overcome  them  singly  or  col- 
lectively. Let  them  come.  If  we  have  got  Christ 
within  us,  we  will  overthrow  them  all.  Remember  what 
Christ  is  able  to  do.  In  all  the  ages  men  have  stood  in 
greater  temptations  than  you  and  I  will  ever  have  to 
meet. 

Now,  there  is  one  thing  on  this  line  :  I  have  either 
got  to  overcome  the  world,  or  the  world  is  going  to 
overcome  me.     I  have  either  got  to  conquer  sin  in  me — 


198  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

or  sin  about  me — and  get  it  under  my  feet,  or  it  is  going 
to  conquer  me.  A  good  many  people  are  satisfied  with 
one  or  two  victories,  and  think  that  is  all.  I  tell  you, 
my  dear  friends,  we  have  got  to  do  something  more 
than  that.  It  is  a  battle  all  the  time  ;  it  is  a  conflict. 
We  have  this  to  encourage  us  :  we  are  assured  of  victory 
at  the  end.     We  are  promised  a  glorious  triumph. 

Let  me  give  you  the  eight  "  overcomes  "  of  Revela- 
tion. The  first  is  :  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give 
to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life."  He  shall  have  a  right  to  the 
tree  of  life.  When  Adam  fell  he  lost  that  right.  God 
turned  him  out  of  Eden  lest  he  should  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life  and  live  as  he  was  forever.  Perhaps  He  just  took 
that  tree  and  transplanted  it  in  the  Garden  above  ;  and 
through  the  second  Adam  we  are  to  have  a  right  to  eat 
of  it.  Second  :  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt 
of  the  second  death."  Death  has  no  terrors  for  him. 
Death  cannot  touch  him.  Why  ?  Because  Christ  tasted 
death  for  every  man.  Hence  he  is  on  resurrection 
ground.  Death  may  take  this  body,  but  that  is  all. 
This  is  only  the  house  I  live  in.  We  need  have  no  fear 
of  death  if  we  overcome.  Third  :  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  will 
give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name 
written,  which  no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth 
it."  If  I  overcome,  God  will  feed  me  with  bread  that 
the  world  knows  nothing  about,  and  give  me  a  new 
name.  Fourth  :  "  He  that  overcometh,  and  keepeth 
My  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  power  over 
the  nations."  Think  of  it.  What  a  thing  to  have  ; 
power  over  the  nations  !  A  man  that  is  able  to  rule 
himself  is  the  man  that  God  can  trust  with  power,  and 
He  will  give  him  power  over  the  nations.  Only  a  man 
who  can  govern  himself  is  fit  to  govern  other  men,     I 


FIGHTING  THE   GOOD   FIGHT.  I99 

have  an  idea  that  God  is  just  polishing  us  for  some 
higher  service.  Fifth  :  "  He  that  overcometh,  the  same 
shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment ;  and  I  will  not  blot 
his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess  his 
name  before  My  Father,  and  before  His  angels."  He 
shall  present  us  to  the  Father  in  white  garments,  with- 
out spot  or  wrinkle.  Every  fault  and  stain  shall  be 
taken  out,  and  we  be  made  perfect.  Sixth  :  "  Him  that 
overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  My 
God  ;  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out ;  and  I  will  write 
upon  him  the  name  of  My  God,  and  the  name  of  the 
city  of  My  God,  which  is  New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh 
down  out  of  Heaven  from  My  God  :  and  I  will  write 
upon  him  My  new  name."  Seventh  :  "  To  him  that 
overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  Me  in  My  throne, 
even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  My 
Father  in  His  throne."  My  heart  has  often  melted  as  I 
have  looked  at  that.  Dear  young  men,  what  a  high 
calling.  Think  of  it  :  the  Lord  of  glory  coming  down 
and  saying  :  "  I  will  grant  to  you  to  sit  on  My  throne, 
even  as  I  sit  on  My  Father's  throne,  if  you  will  just 
overcome."  Isn't  it  worth  fighting  for  ?  Isn't  it  worth 
a  struggle  ?  How  many  will  fight  for  a  crown  that  is 
going  to  fade  away  !  Yet  we  are  to  be  placed  higher 
than  the  angels,  if  we  only  overcome  !  May  God  help 
us  to  overcome  !  May  God  put  strength  into  every  one 
of  us  to  fight  the  battle  of  life,  so  that  we  may  sit  with 
Him  on  His  throne.  We  are  joint-heirs  with  Christ. 
No  one  can  be  a  joint-heir  with  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
When  Frederick  of  Germany  was  dying,  his  own  son 
wouldn't  have  been  allowed  to  sit  with  him  on  the 
throne,  nor  to  have  let  any  one  else  sit  there  with  him. 
Yet  we  are  told  that  we  are  joint-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  we  are  to  sit  with  Him  in  glory  !    And  now,  the 


200  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

last  thought  I  like  best  of  all  :  "  He  that  overcometh 
shall  inherit  all  things  ;  and  I  will  be  his  God,  and  he 
shall  be  My  son."  My  dear  friends,  isn't  that  a  high 
calling  ?  Just  see  what  a  kingdom  we  shall  come  into  : 
we  shall  inherit  all  things  !  Do  you  ask  me  how  much 
I  am  worth  ?  I  don't  know.  The  Rothschilds  cannot 
compute  their  wealth.  They  don't  know  how  many 
millions  they  own.  That  is  my  condition.  I  haven't 
the  slightest  idea  how  much  I  am  worth.  God  has  no 
poor  children.  If  we  overcome  we  shall  inherit  all 
things.  Oh,  my  dear  friends,  what  an  inheritance  ! 
Let  us  get  the  victory  over  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

MR.  Moody's  question-drawer. 

Conditions  of  Successful  Prayer — Power  from  on  High — Its  Effect 
upon  Character — Hints  to  Speakers — Value  of  Irregular  Meth- 
ods— Outdoor  Work — Preparing  Sermons — Sectarianism — Begin- 
ning Work  Promptly — How  to  Hold  Inquiry-Meetings — Mistakes 
to  be  Avoided— Bible  Study — The  Call  to  the  Ministry. 

Q.  Is  the  prayer  of  faith  always  answered  ?  A.  I 
haven't  time  to  answer  that  question  as  I  would  like  to 
do  ;  but  faith  must  have  a  warrant.  A  good  many  peo- 
ple think  they  have  faith  enough  when  they  ask  for  cer- 
tain things  ;  yet  their  prayers  are  not  answered,  and 
they  wonder  why.  The  trouble  is,  their  faith  had  no 
warrant.  For  instance,  if  I  should  go  out  to  meet  the 
army  of  Midian  at  the  head  of  three  hundred  men  with 
empty  pitchers,  I  should  probably  be  routed.  Gideon 
had  a  warrant.  God  told  him  to  go,  and  he  went,  and 
Midian  couldn't  stand.  We  have  got  to  have  some  foun- 
dation for  our  faith — some  promise  of  God  to  base  our 
faith  upon.  Then  again,  if  we  don't  get  our  prayers 
answered  just  as  we  want  them,  it  is  no  sign  that  God 
doesn't  answer  prayer.  For  instance,  my  little  boy  when 
he  was  eight  years  old,  wanted  a  pony.  He  got  his  an- 
swer :  It  was  "  No."  Was  his  prayer  answered  ?  Of 
course  it  was.  I  got  him  a  goat.  A  pony  might  have 
kicked  his  head  off.  A  goat  was  a  good  deal  better  for 
a  boy  eight  years  old  than  a  pony.  It  is  a  foolish  idea 
to  think  that  God  has  got  to  do  everything  you  ask. 

(20I) 


202  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

You  will  notice  that  the  people  whose  prayers  are  re- 
corded in  the  Bible  didn't  always  have  their  prayers 
answered  just  as  they  wanted  them  to  be,  but  often  in 
some  other  way.  In  all  true  prayer  you  will  say  :  "  Not 
my  will,  but  Thine,  be  done  ";  and  all  true  prayer  will  be 
answered  if  you  have  made  it  in  that  spirit.  God  likes 
to  have  His  children  ask  for  just  what  they  want  even 
though  the  answer  He  will  give  may  be  very  different 
from  what  they  expect,  I  want  my  children  to  ask  me 
for  what  they  want ;  but  I  don't  give  them  all  they  ask 
for  by  a  good  deal.  So  make  your  requests  known  unto 
God,  and  the  peace  of  God  shall  keep  you.  Look  at 
those  three  men  of  Scripture  that  take  up  more  room 
than  any  other  three  men  in  the  whole  Bible  :  Moses, 
Elijah,  and  Paul.  Look  at  Moses  and  Elijah  in  the  Old 
Testament.  They  didn't  get  their  prayers  answered  in 
the  way  they  wanted  them,  and  yet  God  answered  their 
prayers.  You  remember  Moses  wanted  to  go  with  the 
children  of  Israel  into  the  goodly  land — the  promised 
land.  You  can  imagine  how  strong  that  desire  w^as 
after  he  had  been  with  them  for  forty  years  wandering 
in  the  desert.  He  wanted  to  go  into  the  promised  land 
and  see  his  children  settled  in  their  home.  But  it  wasn't 
the  will  of  God  that  Moses  should  go.  And  that  wasn't 
because  God  did  not  love  Moses,  for  He  took  him  up 
into  Pisgah  and  showed  him  the  whole  country.  A 
great  many  years  later  Moses  did  stand  in  the  promised 
land — on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  His  prayer 
wasn't  answered  in  his  way.  God  had  better  things  in 
store  for  Moses ;  and  certainly  I  would  rather  be  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  than  to  have  had  to  go  over  and  fight 
as  Joshua  did.  So  we  are  not  to  think  that  God  doesn't 
answer  our  prayers  because  He  doesn't  answer  them 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  203 

just  in  the  way  and  the  time  we  want  them  answered. 
Take  Elijah.  If  there  ever  was  a  man  that  knew  how  to 
pray  it  was  Elijah.  In  the  power  of  prayer  he  stood 
before  Ahab  and  wrought  wonders.  After  all  that,  he 
prayed  that  he  might  die  under  the  juniper  tree.  Was 
his  prayer  answered  in  his  way  ?  Why  ;  he  was  the 
only  man  under  that  dispensation  who  was  to  go  to 
Heaven  without  dying.  I  heard  of  a  little  boy  four 
years  old  who  asked  his  father  to  let  him  take  a  razor 
in  his  hand.  His  father  said  :  "  Oh,  no,  my  boy,  you 
will  cut  yourself."  Then  that  little  fellow  just  sat  down 
and  cried  as  if  his  heart  would  break.  A  great  many 
grown-up  people  are  just  like  that :  they  are  praying 
for  razors.  Elijah  prayed  for  a  razor — he  wanted  his 
throat  cut.  But  his  prayer  wasn't  ansv/ered  that  way. 
God  wasn't  going  to  take  his  life,  or  let  him  take  it. 
He  had  something  better  for  him.  And  now  look  at 
Paul.  No  one  takes  up  so  much  space  in  the  New 
Testament  as  Paul,  and  if  there  ever  was  a  man  that 
had  power  with  God  he  had  it ;  and  yet,  he  prayed 
three  times  that  the  Lord  would  take  the  thorn  out  of 
his  flesh.  The  Lord  said  :  "  I  won't  take  it  out,  but  I 
will  give  you  more  grace";  and  Paul  said:  "Thank 
God  !  I  wouldn't  have  it  taken  out  now  if  I  could.  I 
have  got  more  grace  by  it."  If  you  have  got  a  thorn  in 
the  flesh,  remember  that  God  has  sent  it  for  some  wise 
purpose.  God  sends  us  tribulations  for  our  good.  Paul 
said  he  gloried  in  persecutions,  because  they  lifted  him 
nearer  to  God  and  made  him  more  like  Jesus  Christ. 

Q.  If  a  man  has  sinned,  is  it  necessary  to  confess  his- 
sin   to  men  ?     A.  There  are  three  kinds  of  confession. 
For  instance,  if  I  have  been  a  public  transgressor — if  I 
have  been  known  in  the  streets  of  Northfield  as  a  public 
transgressor — I  ought  not  only  to  confess  my  sins  to  God, 


204  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELU. 

but  to  the  whole  town.  The  confession  ought  to  be  just 
as  public  as  the  transgression  was.  I  ought  to  be  will 
ing  to  confess  in  as  public  a  manner  as  I  can  my  sin, 
and  let  people  know  that  I  have  changed  my  life.  Then, 
there  is  another  kind  of  confession.  If  I  have  done 
that  man  down  there  a  wrong,  and  no  one  knows  it  but 
himself  and  myself,  I  ought  to  go  to  him  and  confess 
my  sin  to  him  and  before  God.  If  I  have  got  too  much 
pride  to  do  that,  I  haven't  got  much  chance  of  being- 
saved.  Then  there  is  a  third  kind  of  confession,  and 
that  is  between  me  and  my  God  alone.  I  go  to  Him 
with  all  my  sins  that  nobody  knows  anything  about  but 
myself,  and  confess  them  to  Him.  "  If  we  confess  our 
sins.  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  Bear  in  mind, 
then,  that  there  are  three  kinds  of  confession  :  to  God,  to 
individuals  that  we  have  wronged,  and  to  the  public. 

Q.  You  speak  of  sudden  conversions.  Are  all  con- 
versions instantaneous  ?  A.  Oh,  no  ;  I  believe  there  are 
a  great  many  people,  especially  children,  who  don't 
know  the  time  they  were  converted,  and  yet  they  have 
passed  from  death  to  life.  With  some  it  is  like  the 
gradual  rise  of  the  morning  light  ;  with  others  it  is  like 
a  flash  of  lightning.  But  that  doesn't  change  the  fact 
that  there  must  be  a  time  when  we  are  born  into  God's 
kingdom. 

Q.  Is  the  Holy  Spirit  in  different  persons  in  different 
degrees  ?  A.  I  should  say  so  decidedly.  That  is,  it  is 
manifested  in  different  degrees.  Some  men  give  them- 
selves up  to  be  controlled  and  influenced  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  ;  others  quench  Him  and  grieve  Him. 

Q.  How  far  does  baptism  for  service  make  up  for  lack 
of  education  ?  A.  One  of  the  things  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  does  is  to  give  a  man  a  desire  for  knowledge.     If 


MR.    MOODY  S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  20$ 

you  receive  this  baptism  you  will  want  to  learn  more 
about  Jesus  Christ.  It  will  give  you  a  new  relish  for 
the  Bible.  It  will  give  you  such  a  thirst  for  knowledge 
that  you  will  begin  to  study  as  you  never  did  before. 

Q.  We  have  asked  and  sought  the  enduement  of 
power.  Are  we  to  believe  we  have  it,  or  look  for  some 
token  ?  A.  You  shouldn't  be  looking  for  any  token. 
Just  keep  asking  and  waiting  for  power.  And  remem- 
ber, if  you  get  filled  here,  it  is  no  sign  that  you  are 
going  to  have  it  always.  The  fact  is,  we  are  very  leaky 
vessels.  We  need  to  keep  right  under  the  fountain  all 
the  time.  I  have  seen  men  that  were  filled  up  years 
ago,  but  they  have  lost  their  power  and  don't  know  it. 
Samson  lost  his  strength  without  knowing  it.  A  good 
many  men  lose  their  power  and  don't  know  it.  They 
just  go  on  talking  and  working,  and  there  are  no  results, 
because  they  have  gone  away — unconsciously  perhaps — 
from  the  Master,  and  haven't  the  power  they  once  had. 

Q.  How  will  it  be  manifested  if  a  man  has  this  power? 
A.  Well,  there  will  be  great  love — love  to  every  one.  You 
can  love  your  enemies  ;  you  can  pray  for  them  ;  and 
there  will  be  nothing  in  your  heart  but  love.  A  sense 
of  God's  love  just  melts  your  heart,  and  makes  you  al- 
most a  new  man.  There  will  be  no  enmity  in  your  heart 
— nothing  but  love. 

Q.  According  to  the  Bible,  are  there  any  conditions 
to  be  complied  with  before  receiving  the  unction  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  ?  A.  There  must  be  a  complete  and  uncon- 
ditional surrender  to  the  will  of  God.  You  must  give 
yourself  wholly,  unreservedly — to  be  anything — to  do 
anything — to  be  a  hewer  of  wood  or  drawer  of  water. 
If  a  man  is  proud  and  lifted  up,  and  isn't  willing  to  do 
anything  or  everything  for  the  Lord,  I  don't  believe  he 
will  get  the  Spirit.     God  can't  trust  him  with  power. 


2o6  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

But  when  a  man  is  completely  emptied  of  self,  and  is 
ready  to  do  anything  or  to  go  anywhere,  then  it  is  that 
God  fills  him. 

Q.  Can  a  man  receive  more  power  unless  he  uses 
what  he  has  ?  A.  It  is  a  law  of  the  kingdom  of  God  : 
Use  or  lose.  If  you  don't  use  what  you  have,  you  will 
lose  even  that. 

Q.  When  a  man  receives  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit, 
does  it  make  a  permanent  change  in  him  ?  A.  I  think 
it  does  decidedly.  Any  person  who  comes  in  contact 
with  you  will  notice  a  difference.  You  will  have  a  ten- 
derness and  gentleness  that  you  never  had  before.  Peo- 
ple who  have  anything  to  do  with  you  will  see  a  wonder- 
ful change.  A  gentleman  came  from  Edinburgh  to  see 
me  in  London,  and  stayed  with  me  for  ten  days.  After- 
wards when  I  went  to  Edinburgh  his  minister  said  : 
^'  What  did  you  do  with  that  man  ?  Why,"  said  he  ;  'Mie 
is  a  different  man.  Everywhere  he  goes  he  is  wonder- 
fully blessed."  It  was  the  power  of  God  coming  on  him 
for  service.  That's  what  made  the  difference.  A  lady 
in  Philadelphia  came  to  me  and  said  :  "  You  described 
me  exactly  when  you  said  you  pitied  down  deep  in  your 
soul  any  man  or  woman  who  never  had  the  luxury  of 
leading  a  soul  to  Jesus  Christ.  My  husband  is  not  a 
Christian.  None  of  my  servants  are  Christians.  I  have 
a  Bible-class,  and  not  one  of  them  has  been  converted. 
I  don't  know  what  the  trouble  is."  I  said  :  "  Are  you 
in  the  habit  of  getting  angry  with  your  servants  and 
scolding  them?"  "Yes,"  she  said.  "Then,"  I  said; 
"  when  you  think  you  would  like  to  talk  to  them  about 
their  souls,  your  own  life  comes  up  and  condemns  you." 
"Yes,"  she  said;  "that  is  my  difficulty."  Said  I: 
"  Sometimes  you  get  out  of  patience  with  your  husband, 
and  scold  him ;  and  then  when  you  want  to  talk  with 


MR.   MOODY'S  QUESTION-DRAWER.  20/ 

him  about  his  soul,  your  own  life  comes  up  before  you." 
''  Yes,"  she  said.  "  What  will  I  do  ?  "  "  Why,"  I  said  : 
"  instead  of  praying  for  them,  pray  for  yourself.  Pray 
that  you  may  be  endued  with  power  and  grace  to  over- 
come your  own  inconsistencies."  I  prayed  for  that  lady. 
After  a  while  she  came  back  to  me  and  said  :  "  I  really 
don't  know  whether  I  am  in  the  flesh  or  out  of  it.  Why; 
I  am  the  happiest  mortal  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
When  I  prayed  for  myself,  and  asked  for  power  to  live 
better,  it  seemed  as  if  I  was  a  different  person.  There 
came  such  a  blessing  to  my  soul  that  I  went  direct  to 
my  husband  and  I  said  that  I  hadn't  lived  as  I  should 
have  done,  and  that  I  had  professed  what  I  hadn't  pos- 
sessed ;  and  I  wanted  him  to  forgive  me.  He  broke 
right  down,  and  he  was  the  first  soul  that  God  gave  me. 
Three  of  my  servants  have  been  converted,  and  eight  of 
my  Bible-class  are  converted,  and  I  have  accomplished 
more  by  my  Christian  life  these  last  few  days  than  I  ever 
did  before  with  all  my  talking."  I  believe  that  will  be 
the  experience  of  every  Christian  when  he  is  anointed 
for  service. 

Q.  What  is  the  cure  for  weak  faith?  A.  I  don't  think 
there  is  any  cure  for  weak  faith  but  the  Word  of  God, 
and  the  whole  of  it.  If  a  man  has  weak  faith  I  don't 
believe  half  the  Bible  is  going  to  help  him.  He  has  got 
to  have  it  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and  the  more  he 
reads  it  the  more  faith  he  v/ill  have.  I  never  have  seen 
a  godly  man  that  had  a  Bible  well  marked,  and  was 
building  on  the  promises,  that  had  any  doubts.  It  is 
the  people  who  neglect  their  Bibles  that  are  full  of  un- 
belief and  doubts.  Here  is  another  thought.  People 
have  got  a  false  idea  about  how  faith  comes.  I  used  to 
think  that  if  we  would  get  together  and  pray  for  faith, 
that  was  the  way  we  would  get  it.     Years  ago,  when  I 


208  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

was  at  work  in  Chicago,  I  used  to  get  people  together 
in  prayer-meetings,  and  exhort  them  to  pray  for  faith. 
"  Faith  !  faith  !  "  I  would  say  ;  "that  is  what  we  want. 
If  we  had  faith  enough  we  could  turn  Chicago  upside 
down.  Oh,  if  we  could  only  get  faith."  I  thought  if 
we  would  pray  for  faith  it  would  come  down  like  a  flash 
of  lightning.  But  I  happened  one  day  to  be  reading 
the  loth  chapter  of  Romans  and  the  17th  verse  :  "So 
then  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word 
of  God."  That  revolutionized  me.  Faith  depends  upon 
knowledge.  The  more  you  know  of  a  bad  man  the  less 
you  will  trust  him  ;  but  the  more  you  know  of  a  true 
man  the  more  faith  you  will  have  in  him.  The  way  to 
know  more  about  God  is  to  read  His  Word,  and  test 
His  promises.  God  doesn't  ask  us  to  believe  without 
giving  us  something  to  believe.  For  six  thousand  years 
devils  and  men  have  been  trying  to  break  God's  Word, 
and  they  haven't  broken  it  yet.  Did  God  ever  break  a 
promise  ?  Didn't  He  keep  His  word  with  Abraham  and 
Moses  ?  Isn't  every  Jew  we  meet  to-day  a  monument 
to  the  fidelity  of  God  to  His  promise  to  Abraham  ?  I 
believe  you  could  blot  the  sun  out  of  the  heavens  easier 
than  you  could  break  God's  promises.  Some  people 
talk  about  their  intellectual  difficulties.  Where  do  their 
difficulties  come  from  ?  They  are  of  the  devil,  and  he 
is  a  liar — that  is  all. 

Q.  How  can  a  man  who  wants  to  preach  overcome 
nervousness  ?  A.  That  is  a  practical  question,  my 
friend.  Do  you  remember  the  first  time  you  got  up  to 
preach  ? — how  your  knees  went  thump  !  thump  !  I'll 
tell  you  what  to  do.  Get  so  full  of  your  subject  that 
you  forget  yourself.  Be  occupied  with  the  subject,  and 
you  are  all  right.  This  opens  the  question  of  preach- 
ing ;  and  I   would  just  like  to  say  a  few  words  about 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  209 

that,  if  you  will  allow  me.  When  a  man  gets  up  to 
speak — and  let  me  say  right  here  that  I  like  to  say  "  to 
speak"  better  than  "to  preach,"  because  if  I  can  only 
get  people  to  think  I  am  talking  with  them,  and  not 
preaching,  it  is  so  much  easier  to  hold  their  attention. 
If  I  can  get  people  to  say  that  I  don't  preach,  but  only 
talk,  I'd  rather  have  that  compliment  than  any  other. 
The  other  night  I  was  walking  down  here  in  the  dark, 
and  a  couple  of  persons  right  behind  me  were  talking 
about  the  meeting.  One  of  them  said  :  "  Did  Moody 
speak  to-night  ? "  The  other  said  :  "  No  ;  he  didn't 
speak  ;  he  only  talked."  "  Did  you  ever  hear  him  be- 
fore ?  "  "  Yes."  "  How  do  you  like  him  ?  "  "  Well,  we 
do7i!t  like  him.  He  never  has  the  Church  service,  and  he 
doesn't  have  on  any  robes.  And  then  his  speaking  : 
why,  he  doesn't  speak  at  all — he  just  talks."  I  thought 
that  was  quite  a  compliment.  I  am  glad  if  I  can  make 
people  think  I  am  talking  with  them.  I  think  some- 
times we  almost  preach  the  people  to  death — it  is 
preach,  preach,  preach.  If  you  can  get  the  idea  out  of 
their  minds  that  you  are  going  to  preach,  and  just  let 
them  think  you  are  going  to  talk,  you  are  more  likely  to 
reach  them. — Another  thing  :  Be  yourself.  I  do  detest 
the  kind  of  people  that  have  a  religious  tone — a  relig- 
ious voice — who  always  change  their  tone  when  they 
begin  to  talk  to  you  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  have 
a  peculiar  whine  that  makes  you  think  of  cant.  Be  nat- 
ural. Talk  on  this  subject  as  you  would  on  any  other 
subject. — Another  thing  :  Get  hold  of  the  people's  curi- 
osity. If  you  take  up  Dr.  Guthrie's  sermons  and  look 
at  them,  you  will  find  that  he  begins,  you  would  think, 
a  thousand  miles  away  from  his  text,  and  you  wonder 
how  he  is  ever  going  to  get  back  to  his  theme.  When 
he  has  got  the  curiosity  of  the  whole  congregation  ex- 


210  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

cited,  he  comes  back  to  his  text.  You  will  find  he  al- 
most invariably  begins  in  that  way. — Another  point  :  If 
you  have  got  a  good  thing  to  say,  say  it  in  the  begin- 
ning. Get  the  people's  attention.  Don't  get  into  the 
ruts.  Strike  out  a  path  of  your  own.  Don't  say  : 
"  First,"  and  "  secondly,"  and  "  thirdly,"  and  then 
*'  finally,"  "  in  conclusion,"  and  "  lastly,"  and  all  that. 
Take  the  whole  truth,  or  the  whole  text,  and  throw  it 
right  at  them  ;  then  go  about  and  try  to  drive  it  home. 
—Again  :  Don't  get  up  and  tell  the  people  that  you  are 
a  man  of  common  sense.  I  never  hear  a  man  say  that 
he  is  a  man  of  common  sense  but  I  think  if  it  were 
really  so  he  wouldn't  have  told  it — he  would  have  let 
the  people  find  it  out.  Another  expression  is  :  "I  am  a 
practical  man,  and  I  will  give  you  a  practical  talk."  If 
you  are  a  practical  man  never  mind  talking  about  it. 
Give  the  people  something  practical,  and  they  will  find 
out  soon  enough  what  you  are.  Remarks  like  those 
don't  sound  well,  because  they  draw  attention  to  your- 
self, and  that  is  the  last  thing  you  want  to  do.  It  is  said 
of  Cicero,  the  great  Roman  orator,  that  when  he  had 
spoken,  every  one  would  go  out  of  the  building  saying  : 
"  What  a  magnificent  address  !  What  an  orator  !  "  But 
when  Demosthenes,  the  Greek  orator,  had  finished,  the 
people  would  say  :  "  Let  us  go  and  fight  Philip  ! " 
They  wanted  to  fight  right  off.  He  had  fired  them  up 
with  the  cause ;  and  what  we  want,  dear  friends,  is  to 
get  the  attention  of  the  people  away  from  ourselves  and 
on  the  subject.  If  they  will  go  asleep,  it  is  a  good  thing 
to  stop  and  say  :  "  Won't  you  open  the  window  and  let 
a  little  air  in?  Here  is  a  gentleman  that  has  gone 
asleep."  That'll  wake  up  the  whole  of  them.  You  can't 
reach  a  man  when  he  is  asleep.  Men  may  talk  in  their 
sleep,  but  you  can't  talk  to  a  man  when  he  is  asleep.  An 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  211 

interruption  like  that  won't  do  any  harm,  especially  if  it 
makes  the  people  think  it  wasn't  your  preaching  that 
put  the  man  to  sleep — it  was  the  bad  air. — Another 
thing  :  It  is  very  much  better  to  get  the  reputation  of 
being  brief  than  to  have  people  saying  you  preach  long 
sermons.  Say  what  you  have  got  to  say  in  just  as  few 
words  as  you  can.  And  then  stop  when  you  get  through. 
Some  men  go  on  and  feel  around  for  a  good  stopping- 
place.  I'd  rather  stop  abruptly  than  do  that.  Don't 
waste  any  time.  Remember,  we  are  living  in  an  intense 
age.  •  Men  think  quicker  than  they  used  to.  The  time 
was  when  if  a  man  wanted  to  do  a  little  business  in 
Boston  he  would  write  half-a-dozen  sheets  of  foolscap 
and  send  them  by  mail.  Now  he  puts  it  all  in  a  tele- 
gram of  ten  words.  What  we  want  in  our  preaching  is 
to  condense.  Get  the  reputation  of  being  short  and 
people  will  want  to  hear  you.  If  you  get  a  reputation 
for  being  long  you  will  have  very  few  to  hear  you. 
Then  it  is  a  good  thing  to  keep  your  hands  out  of  your 
pockets.  Keep  your  hands  free.  You  will  want  to  use 
them  to  emphasize  your  sermon.  Very  often  you  will 
wake  a  man  up  by  pointing  right  down  there  [pointing 
toward  an  individual  in  the  audience].  Sometimes  I 
have  seen  a  man  just  gone  to  sleep,  and  I  would — [a 
heavy  stamp].  One  man  asleep  will  just  publish  to  the 
whole  audience  that  you  are  a  dry  preacher.  And  you 
can't  afford  to  have  a  man  asleep  on  the  platform.  Any- 
thing but  a  man  asleep  on  the  platform — nodding  !  All 
the  people  see  him.  What  you  want  is  to  get  the  at- 
tention of  the  audience,  even  if  you  have  to  go  a  little 
out  of  the  line.  I  remember  once  preaching  at  Limer- 
ick. Our  hymn-books  over  there  were  new  then.  A 
young  man  came  in  and  joined  the  choir.  There  were 
three  or  four  hundred  people  on  the  stage,  and  he  took 


212  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

a  front  seat.  He  got  a  hymn-book  just  when  I  began 
to  preach,  and  turned  over  the  leaves.  Commencing 
with  the  first  hymn  he  went  on  as  if  he  was  going  to 
examine  every  hymn  in  the  book.  I  thought  to  myself: 
"  Have  I  got  to  preach  till  he  gets  all  through  that  book 
before  I  can  get  the  attention  of  the  people?"  What  to 
do  I  didn't  know.  Finally  I  used  him  as  an  illustration. 
Speaking  of  a  young  man  in  America,  I  said  :  "  He  was 
about  the  age  of  this  young  man  reading  a  hymn-book." 
The  result  was  that  when  I  asked  all  those  in  the  house 
that  wanted  us  to  pray  for  them,  he  rose.  That  young 
man  was  the  first  soul  God  gave  me  in  Limerick.  If  he 
had  gone  on  reading  that  hymn-book  it  would  have 
been  very  hard  for  me  to  get  hold  of  the  people.  Get 
the  attention  of  your  audience  somehow.  If  you  are 
going  to  be  public  speakers,  train  yourselves  for  that. 
It  can  be  done. — And  then,  Aim  at  the  heart.  Just  keep 
thundering  away  at  a  man's  heart  and  you  will  get  it, 
and  if  you  get  his  heart  you  get  his  head  and  his  feet 
and  everything — you  get  the  whole  man.  The  story  of 
the  Prodigal  Son  will  melt  any  man's  heart.  So  will 
the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Or  take  any  of  the 
miracles  of  healing — how  Christ  saw  a  man  blind  or 
paralyzed,  and  came  to  him,  and  had  compassion  on 
him.  Just  open  the  heart  of  Christ  to  the  people,  and 
draw  the  multitude  around  Him.  If  you  want  to  get 
hold  of  an  audience,  aim  at  the  heart ;  and  there  is 
nothing  that  will  warm  up  the  heart  like  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus. 

Q.  What  is  the  best  training  a  man  can  have  after  get 
ting  through  the  seminary  and  before  going  into  the  min- 
istry ?     A.  One  good  thing  would  be  to  become  a  book- 
agent.     If  a  man  will  travel  about  these  United  States 
and  go  around  from  house  to  house  trying  to  sell  books 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  213 

he  will  see  a  good  deal  of  human  nature.  Or  let  him 
peddle  tin  for  about  six  months.  What  we  want  is  to 
learn  how  to  get  hold  of  a  man,  and,  as  a  general  thing, 
public  speakers  fail  right  there.  They  have  been 
through  the  seminaries,  and  perhaps  have  got  all  the 
books  pretty  well  learned,  but  they  don't  just  know  how 
to  reach  human  nature.  It  is  a  good  thing  if  you  are 
in  a  city  to  go  into  a  mission-school,  and  just  take  a 
class  of  what  you  call  street-Arabs — keen,  sharp  boys 
that  will  pick  your  pockets  if  they  get  a  chance — and 
try  to  interest  them.  If  you  can  hold  their  attention 
for  fifteen  or  twenty-five  minutes,  you  can  hold  the  at- 
tention of  almost  any  audience,  and  it  is  a  very  good 
place  to  practise.  If  you  are  living  in  a  city,  I  don't, 
know  anything  better  than  just  to  do  that  kind  of  work. 
Make  up  your  mind  that  you  are  going  for  the  masses 
— that  you  are  going  to  reach  them.  I  heard  a  story  a 
little  while  ago.  There  were  two  young  men  studying 
medicine  in  the  same  college.  Both  of  them  graduated 
at  the  same  time.  One  stood  at  the  head  of  his  class; 
the  other  hadn't  done  so  well  with  his  books.  But  after 
they  had  been  working  away  for  some  years,  the  one 
that  had  done  well  at  college  had  a  very  large  practice, 
while  the  other  that  had  stood  at  the  head  of  his  class 
had  only  a  small  practice.  One  day  they  met,  and  they 
sat  there  talking,  and  finally  the  man  that  hadn't  a  large 
practice,  said  :  "  I  wish  you  would  tell  me  how  it  is  that 
you  have  such  a  large  practice,  and  I  have  such  a  small 
practice."  Said  the  other,  pointing  to  the  window- 
where  there  were  a  great  many  people  passing  :  "  How 
many  of  those  men  do  you  suppose  are  thinking  men — 
who  think  for  themselves  ?  "  "  Well,"  said  the  first  one; 
"  I  should  say  about  one  in  twenty."  "  Then,"  said  the 
other,  "  you  have  gone  for  the  twentieth  man  :  and  I 


214  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

have  gone  for  the  nineteenth."  I  believe  that  is  where 
a  great  many  ministers  fail.  They  go  for  the  select  few 
— the  cultivated  and  the  educated — and  let  the  masses 
go.  If  you  want  to  reach  the  select  classes,  reach  the 
masses.  Go  for  the  masses,  and  you  will  reach  all.  The 
common  people  heard  Christ  gladly,  and  what  we  want 
is  to  follow  in  His  footsteps  as  near  as  we  can. 

Q.  What  is  the  best  way  to  get  up  an  open-air  meet- 
ing ?  A.  If  you  can  get  half-a-dozen  men  and  women, 
or  children,  to  sing,  get  on  the  corner  of  a  street  and 
start  them  singing.  Get  on  some  great  thoroughfare. 
If  you  are  going  fishing  you  go  where  the  fish  are.  And 
then  after  the  singing  take  one  text,  or  two  or  three 
verses  of  Scripture.  If  you  can  quote  them  it  is  better 
than  to  read.  If  you  open  a  Bible  the  crowd  will  think 
you  are  going  to  read  a  whole  chapter  and  preach  a 
sermon.  What  you  want  to  do  is  to  hold  them — hold 
them  on  the  wing.  Ring  out  such  a  text  of  Scripture 
as,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Then  go  on  in  any 
way  you  can  think  of  to  get  the  truth  lodged  in  the 
hearts,  of  the  people.  Have  perfect  freedom.  Strike 
out  a  path  of  your  own.  I  remember  when  we  were  in 
London  we  used  to  have  some  overflow  meetings,  and 
there  was  a  very  prominent  minister  who  took  an  over- 
flow meeting  one  night.  I  w^as  at  his  house  after  the 
meeting  and  asked  him  how  he  got  along.  He  told  me 
that  after  Mr.  Sankey  sang,  he  told  the  people  that  if 
they  wanted  to  go  they  might,  and  they  kept  going  till 
there  was  hardly  any  one  left.  I  said  :  "  If  I  had  been 
in  your  place  I  wouldn't  have  let  them  go."  Said  he  : 
"  Well  ;  they  might  have  stayed  to  hear  you,  because 
they  would  have  thought  you  had  somethimg  more  im- 


MR.    MOODY  S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  215 

portant  for  them  than  Mr.  Sankey  had."    Said  I  :  "  That 
is  according  to  taste.     I   have  been  with  Mr.  Sankey  a 
great  many  years,  and   I  know  there  are  thousands  of 
people  who  come  to  hear  him   sing  that  wouldn't   go 
across  the  road  to  hear  me  preach."     He  took  the  hint. 
The  next  night   Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  Eternity."     As  soon 
as  he  had  finished  the  minister  jumped  up  and  shouted, 
"Eternity!    Eternity!"      The   whole   audience  stayed. 
I  say  that  man  had  tact,  don't  you  ?     That  was   a  great 
deal  better  than  to  have  let  them  go.     If  a  man  is  going 
to   preach  in  the  open  air,  he  will  need  to  have  his  wits 
about  him  ;  he'll  get  upset  if  he  doesn't.     Some  hard- 
headed   infidel  will  come  along  and  try  to  trip  him  up. 
A  man  was  once  preaching  at  an  open-air  meeting,  and 
an  infidel  in  the  crowd  said  that  the  man  who  invented 
gas  had  accomplished   more  for  the  world   than  all  the 
ministers  in  it.     The  man  who  was   preaching  got  con- 
fused, and  didn't  know  what  to  say.     But  another  man 
with  him  jumped  up  and  said  :  "This  is  a  free  country. 
Every  man  has  a  right  to  his  own  opinion.     That  man 
down  there  says  that  the  man  who  invented  gas  has 
done  more  for  the  world  than  all  the  ministers  in  it.    He 
has  a  right   to  his  opinion,  and  I  have  a  right  to  mine. 
Now,   I    suppose    if   that    man   were   sick   and   dying, 
he  would  send  for  a  gas-fitter.     I  would  send  for  a  man 
who  could   read  to   me  the  4th  of    John."      Then    he 
opened  his  Bible  at  the  4th  chapter  of  John,  and  had 
the  whole  crowd.     That  skeptic  had  swung  the  crowd 
away  ;  this   man  swung  it  back  by  that  simple  method. 
What  we  want  is  to  know  how  to  take  advantage  of  a 
thing  of  that  kind. 

Q.  How  do  you  get  up  your  sermons  ?  A.  I  will  tell 
you  how  I  do  it— that  is,  I  have  no  secrets.  I  have  an 
envelope  for  every  subject,  large  enough  to  take  a  sheet 


2l6  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

of  paper  right  in.  I  study  more  in  subjects  than  I  do 
in  texts.  I  will  take  up  Regeneration,  Grace,  Peace, 
Atonement,  Redemption,  and  so  on.  If,  when  I  am 
reading,  I  meet  a  good  thing  on  any  of  those  subjects, 
I  just  slip  it  into  the  right  envelope  and  let  it  lie  there. 
I  always  carry  a  note-book,  and  if  I  hear  anything  in  a 
sermon  that  will  throw  light  on  that  subject  I  put  it 
down  and  slip  it  into  the  envelope.  Perhaps  I  let  it  lie 
for  a  year  or  more.  When  I  want  a  new  sermon,  I  just 
take  everything  that  has  been  accumulating.  Between 
what  I  find  there  and  the  results  of  my  own  study,  I 
have  material  enough.  Then  I  am  all  the  time  going 
over  my  sermons,  taking  out  a  little  here  and  adding  a 
little  there.  In  that  way  they  never  get  very  old.  I  am 
never  ashamed  to  repeat  a  sermon.  A  great  many  peo- 
ple are  afraid  to  repeat.  There  was  a  man  who 
preached  a  sermon  once  that  he  had  given  a  good  many 
times  before,  and  when  he  had  finished  another  preacher 
said  to  him  :  "  I  have  heard  you  preach  that  sermon  at 
least  five  times  in  the  last  five  years,  and  I  know  it  by 
heart."  Said  the  other :  "  I  heard  you  preach  five 
years  ago,  and  I  can't  remember  anything  you  said." 
If  you  have  got  a  sermon  that  is  good  for  anything, 
pass  it  around.  If  the  Lord  blesses  it  here  to-night, 
why  can't  He  bless  it  ten  miles  away,  or  ten  years  hence  ? 
Study  by  subjects,  and  get  so  full  of  your  subject  that 
all  you  have  got  to  do  is  to  stand  up  and  say  as  much 
as  you  can  within  the  time.  I  think  on  some  subjects  I 
could  speak  without  any  difficulty  for  eight  or  nine  or 
ten  nights.  When  I  commenced  I  couldn't  speak  more 
than  five  minutes.  I  would  speak  for  five  minutes  and 
sit  down.  By-and-by  I  got  so  I  could  preach  fifteen 
minutes.  If  any  one  were  to  ask  me  when  I  began  to 
preach  I  couldn't  tell  you.     I  began  with  the  children. 


MR,    MOODY  S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  21/ 

By-and-by  they  brought  their  parents.  By-and-by  I 
noticed  that  about  half  the  audience  were  adults.  I 
like  to  take  up  a  Bible  character.  I've  got  some  notes 
from  Mr.  Taylor  here  on  Job.  The  next  time  I  speak 
on  Job  I  think  I'll  have  something  new.  When  I  get 
hold  of  a  man  who  is  versed  in  the  Word  of  God,  I  just 
pump  him.  It  is  a  great  privilege  to  have  the  thoughts 
that  these  men  have  been  digging  for  all  their  lives. 

Q.  Do  you  have  a  certain  line  of  truth  to  present 
when  you  go  into  a  town  in  your  regular  work  ?  A.  I 
don't  have  anything  regular.  I  am  a  very  irregular 
man.  I  think  my  friends  will  testify  that  I  like  to  upset 
any  programme.  Mr.  Sankey  used  to  want  to  know 
what  hymns  were  to  be  used,  and  I  would  give  him  a 
list ;  and  then  a  great  many  times  I  wouldn't  close  the 
sermon  the  way  I  expected,  and  would  want  a  different 
hymn.  How  a  man  can  write  everything  out,  and  dot 
every  /  and  cross  every  /,  and  then  ask  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  come  and  tell  him  what  to  say,  I  never  could  under- 
stand. If  you  want  to  be  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  let 
Him  have  liberty.  Let  Him  have  the  right  of  way. 
Break  up  any  programmes,  and  just  say  :  "I  will  let  the 
Spirit  have  His  way." 

Q.  What  is  the  best  way  to  keep  up  a  union  meeting  ? 
A.  I'll  tell  you  how  not  to  keep  one  up.  Some  people 
work  very  hard  to  get  up  a  union  meeting,  and  then  the 
first  thing  they  do  is  to  bring  up  some  controverted 
point.  Why,  I  could  break  up  these  meetings  within 
twenty-four  hours,  and  destroy  this  influence  and  the 
good  that  has  been  accomplished  here  by  a  little  indis- 
cretion. Suppose  I  should  take  up  the  question  of  bap- 
tism— whether  true  baptism  is  by  immersion  or  sprink- 
ling ;  and  I  very  seldom  go  into  a  place  where  I  don't 
have  that  question  forced  on  me.     Or  suppose  I  should 


2l8  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

take  up  the  doctrine  of  Arminianism.  If  you  want  to 
have  union  meetings  let  those  controverted  points  go. 
We  will  settle  them  in  the  millennium.  We'll  have  time 
then.  Take  the  question  of  predestination  ;  they  won't 
have  that  settled  in  my  day.  Here  is  Bishop  Hendrix — 
a  good  Methodist.  If  I  should  preach  Calvinism  I  would 
preach  him  out  of  the  door.  Or  if  I  should  preach  in- 
fant baptism  Dr.  Broadus  here  would  take  his  hat,  and 
his  wife  and  children  would  follow  him. 

Dr.  Broadus — I  would  get  up  and  reply  to  you,  if  you 
would  let  me. 

Mr.  Moody— But,  you  see,  that  would  break  the  unity, 
wouldn't  it  ? 

Dr.  Broadus — Yes. 

Mr.  Moody — And  you  would  have  the  people  going 
out  saying,  *'  I  am  for  Broadus.  I  am  a  Broadus  man." 
That  is  where  all  these  isms  have  come  from.  Now,  we 
have  got  a  school  here,  and  another  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  with  perhaps  thirty  or  forty  teachers,  and  I 
can't  tell  you  what  denominations  they  belong  to.  That 
question  never  comes  up.  We  are  all  in  Christ,  and  for 
nine  years  there  has  never  been  a  word  of  discord  that 
I  know  of.  I  belong  to  a  church  in  Chicago,  and  there 
are  about  as  many  nationalities  in  it  as  there  are  in 
these  two  schools,  and  yet  I  never  heard  a  word  of  dis- 
cord there,  or  controversy.  I  think  that  every  man  who 
is  in  Christ  is  under  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  Some 
men  are  all  the  time  breaking  up  churches,  and  mission 
works,  and  revival  meetings.  I  have  seen  revival  meet- 
ings all  broken  up  by  some  indiscreet  man  getting  up 
and  discussing  some  controverted  point. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  is  best  to  take  up  some  Christian 
work  while  you  are  in  college,  or  wait  until  you  are 
through  ?     A.  I  think  that  question  has  been  settled  this 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  219 

week  right  here  in  Northfield,  don't  you  ?  [alluding  to 
the  accidental  drowning  of  a  student].  Supposing  young 
Griggs  had  said  :  "  I  will  wait  till  I  get  through  college 
— I  will  go  through  college,  and  then  go  through  the 
seminary,  and  then  begin  preaching."  Isn't  it  a  good 
thing  that  Mr.  Mott  was  able  to  tell  us  what  he  had 
been  doing  ?  Let  us  remember,  we  may  be  spending 
our  last  year  on  earth.  You  may  never  get  through 
college.  Work  while  you  can.  And  I  don't  believe 
there  is  a  place  where  a  young  man  can  accomplish  as 
much  as  right  in  college.  Wait  ?  Not  a  bit  !  "  What- 
soever thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  for 
there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom, 
in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest."  We  don't  know  that 
we  will  have  to-morrow.  I  don't  know  where  I  will  be — 
I  may  be  in  eternity  to-morrow.  Go  to  work  at  once 
where  you  are.  You  may  turn  some  young  man  to 
Christ  whose  influence  will  never  cease.  When  the 
mother  of  John  and  Charles  Wesley  was  training  those 
boys,  little  did  she  know  they  were  going  to  be  used  by 
God  as  they  were.  Suppose  you  just  turn  one  little  boy 
to  Jesus  Christ  while  you  are  at  college,  you  don't  know 
what  that  boy  may  do.  He  may  become  a  Knox,  a 
Whitefield,  a  Newton,  or  a  Bunyan.  Perhaps  this  dear 
young  man  who  fell  in  the  river  this  week  has  turned 
some  soul  to  Christ  who  will  go  as  a  flame  of  fire  all 
through  this  country.  He  may  have  accomplished  more 
in  that  way  than  Whitefield  ever  did — no  one  can  tell. 
Begin  at  once.  Don't  wait  till  you  get  through  college. 
Q.  What  is  the  best  book  to  put  into  the  hands  of 
college  men  ?  A.  It  is  hard  to  say — there  are  so  many 
good  ones.  There  is  one  book  I  wish  you  would  get  if 
you  haven't  got  it  already:  "A  College  of  Colleges." 
It   contains    Professor   Drummond's   addresses,    and   a 


220  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

great  many  of  the  best  things  that  were  said  here  a 
year  ago.  I  have  sent  out  several  hundred  copies.  It 
is  a  good  thing  to  put  a  good  book  in  a  young  man's 
hand  ;  it  may  turn  him  to  righteousness. 

Q.  How  can  you  reach  an  infidel  ?  A.  Not  by  all  the 
time  preaching  to  him.  By  a  godly  life.  By  being 
cheerful.  Show  him  that  you  have  an  inner  life  that  he 
knows  nothing  about. 

Q.  How  can  we  get  young  men  in  our  meetings  to 
take  part  ?  A.  Get  a  young  man  to  pray  first  before 
one  or  two  ;  then  in  a  small  meeting  ;  then  in  a  larger 
meeting.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  get  a  man  to  testify. 
Some  of  the  best  things  I  have  ever  heard  have  been 
where  a  man  gets  up,  and  breaks  down,  and  can't  say 
more  than  two  or  three  words.  He  has  given  his  testi- 
mony for  Jesus  Christ ;  and  Christ  says  :  "  Whosoever 
shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also  be- 
fore My  Father,  which  is  in  Heaven."  It  is  a  great 
thing  to  get  a  man  to  stand  up  and  confess  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  if  he  can  only  do  it  in  a  few  words. 

Q.  How  can  you  have  an  inquiry-meeting  where  you 
have  only  one  room  ?  A.  Well  ;  it  isn't  a  very  difficult 
thing,  especially  if  it  is  in  a  place  where  you  are  ac- 
quainted. If  you  have  charge  of  the  meeting,  and  you 
know  everybody  there,  I  would  say  when  the  time  comes 
to  close  the  first  meeting — and  that  reminds  me  :  I 
wouldn't  have  the  first  meeting  more  than  an  hour  long. 
If  I  was  going  to  have  an  after-meeting,  I  wouldn't  have 
the  first  meeting  more  than  half  an  hour  long.  If  a 
man  is  kept  much  longer  than  that,  he  says  :  "  I  am 
going  home."  But  if  you  close  the  meeting  fifteen  or 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes  earlier  than  he  expects,  he  says  : 
"  Why,  it's  only  nine  o'clock.  I  thought  the  meeting 
would    close    about    half-past    nine.      I'll    stay    here." 


MR.    MOODY'S   QUESTION-DRAWER.  221 

You've  got  him.  Let  me  say  something  about  giving 
out  the  notice  of  the  after-meeting.  Don't  put  a  great 
big  IF  about  four  feet  long  before  a  person  :  "  IF  there 
is  any  one  that  is  concerned  about  his  soul  who  will 
stay,  some  of  us  will  talk  with  you."  Put  the  "  if  "  the 
other  way.  Say  :  "  If  any  of  you  have  got  to  go,  you 
can  go  while  we  sing  this  old  hymn  " — as  if  you  didn't 
expect  them  to  go.  Then  say  :  "  Now  there  are  two 
classes  that  we  want  to  stay.  Any  one  here  that  is  in- 
terested in  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  can  stay  ; 
and  every  one  that  wants  to  be  a  Christian  is  invited  to 
remain."  Then  about  the  benediction  :  I  wouldn't  have 
any  benediction.  Americans  understand  that  that  is  a 
polite  invitation — "  We  want  you  to  go."  While  they 
are  singing  I  would  step  up  to  that  man  [pointing],  and 
say,  "  Mr.  Jones,  I  wish  you  would  speak  to  that  person 
next  you  ";  and  I  would  walk  among  the  people  in  that 
way  getting  the  workers  assigned.  Then  I  would  have 
them  sit  down,  and  I  would  say  :  "  Now  we  are  very 
glad  to  have  these  friends  remain."  Put  Christ  before 
them  as  plain  as  you  can,  and  then  turn  the  meeting 
into  an  inquiry-meeting  in  such  a  way  that  the  people 
will  hardly  know  it.  If  we  look  for  inquirers  I  firmly 
believe  we  will  have  them.  If  we  expect  them,  and  aim 
for  them,  we  are  going  to  get  them.  A  friend  of  mine 
who  died  lately  in  New  York  told  me  that  when  he  tried 
to  get  after-meetings  started  in  his  church,  his  minister 
said  :  "  We  old  Presbyterians  don't  believe  in  that  sort 
of  thing."  Well  ;  you  know,  the  Episcopalians  are  hav- 
ing these  after-meetings.  They  are  going  right  in  among 
the  people  and  getting  hold  of  them.  What  we  want  is 
to  break  up  this  miserable  stiffness — get  it  buried  and 
out  of  the  way.  My  friend  the  Presbyterian  elder  in 
New  York  believed  in  this,  and  was  anxious  to  have  his 


222  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

minister  begin  holding  after-meetings.  Finally  the  min- 
ister said  :  "  If  you  want  them  so  much,  we  will  try  it. 
I  will  hold  one  to-morrow  night,  just  to  please  you,  but 
I  don't  believe  any  one  will  stay."  So  the  next  night, 
after  preaching,  he  said  :  "  Now,  if  there  is  any  one  con- 
cerned about  his  soul,  the  session  will  be  in  the  session- 
room  after  this  meeting,  and  will  be  glad  to  examine 
you."  Why ;  you  might  as  well  ask  a  man  to  go  before 
a  justice  of  the  peace  as  to  ask  an  inquirer  to  go  before 
a  whole  session.  That'll  scare  him  out  of  his  wits.  It 
took  all  the  courage  I  had  to  let  one  man  talk  with  me 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  If  I  had  had  to  go  before  a 
session  I  don't  think  I'd  have  gone.  And  I  suppose 
other  people  feel  as  I  did.  We  have  got  to  make  it  easy 
for  these  men  and  women,  and  even  catch  them  by  guile. 
We  have  Scripture  for  that.  Make  up  your  mind  that  if 
you  can't  get  people  one  way,  you  will  another,  and  then 
you'll  get  them.  I  have  often  said  that  if  I  had  to  give 
up  my  inquiry-meetings,  I  would  give  up  preaching,  be- 
cause I  think  more  good  is  done  in  those  inquiry-meet- 
ings than  in  any  meetings  I  have  been  connected  with. 
Get  men  to  the  point  of  decision  ;  get  them  to  come  to 
Christ.  I  would  have  the  inquiry-meeting  right  after 
the  preaching  service.  Don't  wait  till  the  next  night. 
By  that  time  the  impression  will  be  gone.  Why,  I  have 
heard  ministers  preach  with  such  power  that  you  would 
think  the  unseen  world  was  opened  before  5^ou,  and  then 
spoil  it  all  by  saying  :  "  If  there  is  any  one  here  who  is 
interested  in  his  personal  salvation,  I  will  be  in  the  pas- 
tor's study  every  Friday  night,  and  will  be  glad  to  meet 
you."  Not  follow  up  his  work  till  Friday  night !  The 
devil  is  sure  to  catch  awa)?-  the  seed  before  then.  Lose 
no  time. 

Q.  What  method  of  Bible  study  would  you  recom- 


MR.  Moody's  question-drawer.  223 

mend  ?  A.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  take  the  Bible  up  top- 
ically— take  it  up  by  subjects.  Get  a  Concordance. 
You  can  get  one  now  for  about  a  dollar — and  if  I  had 
to  give  up  my  Concordance  and  couldn't  get  another, 
I'd  rather  let  my  whole  library  go.  Take  up  one  sub- 
ject at  a  time.  For  example,  take  up  Grace  ;  find  out 
all  that  the  Bible  says  about  the  grace  of  God.  How 
easy  it  will  be  for  you  to  talk  about  the  grace  of  God 
when  you  know  all  about  it  !  Or,  take  up  Faith,  or 
Assurance,  or  Atonement,  or  Justification,  or  Sanctifica- 
tion — any  of  those  great  fundamental  doctrines.  Get 
yourself  posted  up.  Take  twelve  great  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  and  suppose  you  spend  twelve  months  in  studying 
those  twelve  doctrines,  you  will  get  such  a  foundation 
of  truth  as  will  serve  you  all  your  life.  Then  take  up  a 
Bible  character.  Take  the  whole  sweep  of  one  man's 
life  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Learn  everything 
about  Noah.  Take  the  life  of  Abraham.  Read  that  up. 
What  a  record  he  left  behind  him  !  Get  full  of  those 
Bible  characters,  and  you  will  want  to  tell  others  about 
them.  Then  when  you  get  up  to  speak  you  will  have 
something  to  say,  and  people  will  be  glad  to  hear  you. 

Q.  Will  you  give  your  views  in  regard  to  the  call  for 
Christian  work  ?  Do  you  think  there  is  a  special  call  to 
the  ministry  different  from  that  to  any  other  Christian 
service  ?  A.  I'll  tell  you  what  I  believe  firmly.  I  be- 
lieve a  call  to  be  a  disciple  is  one  thing,  and  a  call  to  be 
a  minister  is  another.  A  good  many  people  make  a 
mistake  because  they  haven't  made  that  distinction.  I 
think  Peter,  James,  and  John  were  called  to  be  disciples. 
They  wouldn't  have  left  their  nets  and  their  fishing 
smacks  and  followed  Christ  if  they  hadn't  been  called. 
And  then,  afterwards,  they  were  called  to  be  Apostles, 
I  believe  no  man  ought  to  go  into  the  ministry  unless 


224  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

he  is  forced  into  it  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  There's  a  lot 
of  men  nowadays  who  think  if  they  can't  do  anything 
else  they  will  turn  their  hand  to  the  ministry.  They  are 
not  fit  for  it.  They  might  better  be  hammering  iron,  or 
making  clothes,  or  sowing  wheat.  I'd  rather  plough  or 
saw  wood  than  be  in  God's  work  and  believe  God  hadn't 
sent  me.  If  a  man  runs  before  he  is  sent,  he  will  be  a 
miserable  failure — he'll  break  down.  But  if  a  man  waits 
till  he  gets  his  commission,  he  is  going  to  bear  good  tes- 
timony, and  God  will  bless  his  testimony.  And  the  way 
to  tell  whether  you  have  been  called  is  to  look  at  the 
results  of  your  work.  If  you  preach  because  you  can't 
help  it,  and  your  whole  soul  is  in  it,  and  people  like  to 
hear  you,  and  souls  are  won  to  Christ,  that  is  a  pretty 
good  sign  that  you  have  been  called  of  God. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

REPEATING    THE    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

Address  by  Dr.  McKenzie — The  Meaning  of  Discipleship — Youth 
and  its  Freedom — Dangers  of  Liberty — How  to  Use  It — Economy 
of  Restraint — Pursuing  a  Dominant  Purpose — Christ  our  Ex- 
emplar— Ministering  Unto  Others — "No  Man"  at  Bethesda — 
Illustrations  of  Self-Sacrifice— "  Thy  Will  be  Done." 

Life  is  the  strongest  thing  in  the  world.  Life  is 
everywhere  fighting  against  death,  and  is  destined  to 
eternal  triumph.  The  rough  stone  that  is  in  the  meadow 
can't  be  let  alone,  but  life  comes  to  it,  and  a  green  and 
living  moss  tries  to  cover  its  deformity.  If  a  cathedral 
or  palace  falls  into  decay,  the  ivy  will  climb  over  it,  try- 
ing to  cover  the  ruin  which  it  has  not  been  able  to 
prevent.  Life  is  everywhere.  Life  is  most  of  all  in  us 
who  are  living  as  God's  children  ;  and  life  is  especially 
in  you  who  are  young— who  have  before  you  possioly 
many  years,  and  who  have  in  you  the  fullness  and  the 
strength  of  life  to-day.  You  don't  stand  looking  back- 
ward and  thinking  of  death.  Your  situation  is  not  that 
of  the  ancient  gladiators,  who  turned  to  Caesar  and  ut- 
tered that  cry  of  devotion  and  of  despair  :  Te  morittiri 
salutamiis — "  We  who  are  about  to  die  salute  thee." 
Rather  might  you  cry  :  "  O  Csesar,  we  who  are  about  to 
live  salute  thee."  In  these  few  moments  which  I  have 
to  speak  to  you,  I  want  to  talk  a  little  further  about  life, 
because  all  the  life  there  is,  is  the  life  of  Him  whom  we 
love  best — our  Lord  and  our  Redeemer.     I  have  said, 

(225) 


226  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

and  again  I  say  it,  that  the  life  we  now  have,  and  all  the 
life  we  can  hope  for,  are  to  us  the  gift  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  He  came  into  the  world  that  we 
might  have  life  more  abundantly.  Spiritual  life  is  di- 
rectly the  gift  of  God.  It  comes  to  us  by  faith.  It  en- 
ters into  us  ;  we  are  born  again  ;  our  thoughts,  and  pur- 
poses, and  desires,  and  passions,  and  affections,  are  set 
on  things  above.  We  are  brought  up  out  of  the  reign 
of  carnality,  and  placed  under  the  power  of  an  endless 
life.  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  children  of  God,  and  it  is 
not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall  be.  We  know  that, 
if  He  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  Him  ;  for  we 
shall  see  Him  even  as  He  is." 

I  want  to  push  out  a  little  farther  this  morning  on  the 
subject  of  life,  and  see  what  is  to  come  of  it.  I  ap- 
proach this  whole  matter  of  living — of  service — from 
Christ's  side,  and  not  from  the  world's  side.  I  might 
present  a  strong  plea,  and  ask  you  to  give  your  life  to 
the  world  because  the  world  hath  need  of  you  ;  but  I 
take  the  other  side,  and  I  ask  you  to  live  not  alone  in 
the  thought  that  the  world  needs  you,  but  that  Christ 
employs  you.  I  might  say  :  "  The  world  demands  our 
lives."  I  would  rather  say  :  "  O  Christ,  Thou  hast  given 
me  life.  What  shall  I  do  with  it  ?  "  This  is  a  primal 
principle,  which  we  should  always  remember  :  The  life 
of  Christ  in  us  is  to  be  what  the  life  of  Christ  was  in 
Him.  Christ  did  not  mean  to  have  His  life  changed 
when  He  passed  it  over  into  His  followers  :  He  meant  to 
have  it  just  the  same,  in  its  feeling,  its  principle,  its  de- 
sire, its  purpose.  He  shut  it  up  indeed  in  human  limi- 
tations ;  but  we  were  to  imbibe  His  character,  so  that 
for  a  man  to  do  a  thing  in  Christ's  name  and  in  Christ's 
spirit  was  as  if  He  did  it  Himself.  One  reason  why 
He   should   say,    "  It   is   expedient   that    I   go   away," 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  22/ 

was  that  by  His  going  away  the  Holy  Spirit  should 
come  and  carry  over  this  Christ-life,  not  into  one  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  but  into  ten  thousand  men,  so  that  with 
ten  thousand  voices  and  hands  the  work  of  Christ  might 
be  advanced — so  that  that  work  should  be  accomplished 
for  which  He  came  into  the  world  ; — not  one  shepherd 
going  up  into  the  mountain  after  one  lamb,  but  a  thou- 
sand single  shepherds  going  up  into  a  thousand  moun- 
tains for  a  thousand  separate  lambs.  This  is  the  work 
which  Christ  gives  into  our  hands,  multiplying  Himself 
by  making  us  His  disciples.  And  it  is  the  greatest  in- 
stance of  faith  the  world  has  ever  seen.  I  am  sure  the 
world  has  never  seen  any  faith  like  that  shown  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ :  coming  into  the  world  with  all  His 
Divine  power  and  Divine  life,  and  going  to  the  Cross 
that  He  might  redeem  the  race,  and  then  leaving  the 
whole  work  in  the  hands  of  eleven  men,  who  were  to  be 
multiplied  into  other  men,  and  their  successes  were  to 
be  His  successes.  I  am  sure,  brethren,  that  if  everything 
else  should  fail,  this  will  hold  :  We  can't — we  can't  dis- 
appoint Him.  I  suppose  the  saddest  thing  that  ever 
comes  in  life  is  to  be  disappointed  in  one  whom  you 
have  trusted,  and  whom  you  had  a  right  to  trust.  No 
stranger  can  wound  you  like  your  friend.  Nobody  can 
hurt  a  father  like  his  child.  Nobody  can  wound  the 
Lord  Jesus  like  a  disciple.  The  wounds  of  the  world 
He  can  bear  more  easily  than  the  wounds  of  those  He 
trusts  ;  and  we  are  held  by  every  motive  of  gratitude, 
by  every  thought  of  love  and  of  devotion — we  are  held 
to  this  :  that  He  shall  not  be  disappointed  in  the  confi- 
dence He  puts  in  us.  We  can  never  be  disappointed  in 
Him.  There  is  a  story  of  a  boy^a  Scotch  boy — that 
died  ;  and  the  minister,  standing  by  his  coffin  trying  to 
comfort   the  mother,  said  :    "  Remember  the  words  of 


228  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

the  Lord  Jesus,  how  He  said,  ^  I  am  the  resurrection 
and  the  life/"  "Ah,  sir,"  she  answered;  "yes — he 
went  away  believing  that,  and  he  will  be  sorely  disap- 
pointed if  he  doesn't  find  it  so."  Now  turn  the  other 
way  :  Christ's  faith  in  us — Christ's  confidence  in  our 
word,  in  the  sincerity  of  our  life  ;  and  can  anything  be 
sadder  than  that  the  summing  up  of  life  should  be  that 
He  who  so  truly  trusted  us  shall  be  disappointed  in  us  ? 
To  carry  through  this  Saturday  the  feeling  that  He  is 
disappointed  in  the  way  we  lived  yesterday  and  this 
forenoon — to  carry  this  all  the  way  down  the  years — can 
anything  be  sadder  than  that  ?  So  that  what  we  are  to 
do  is  to  stand  with  our  heart  open  for  the  incoming  of 
this  life,  and  just  to  let  it  fill  us  with  His  own  spirit  and 
His  own  power. 

We  are  asked  sometimes  what  we  are  to  do.  Per- 
haps the  best  answer  is  :  To  do  whatever  the  life  of 
Christ  will  do  in  us.  If  He  lays  His  hand  gently  upon 
us,  let  us  observe  it ;  where  He  points  let  us  follow  ;  and 
the  impressions  that  are  given  to  our  prayerful  and  wait- 
ing hearts  may  be  accepted  as  the  teaching  of  Christ, 
and  the  movement  of  His  life  within  us — to  carry  for- 
ward His  work  in  the  world  even  as  it  upholds  the  very 
constitution  and  permanence  of  the  world.  We  stand 
committed  to  this  trust  as  Christ's  disciples.  And  it  is 
interesting  to  mark  that  it  is  not  given  to  us  as  those 
who  are  to  be  coerced  or  compelled  to  this  service  :  it 
comes  to  those  who  are  rendering  this  service  in  the 
freedom  of  a  great  affection.  What  is  the  one  marked 
trait  which  distinguishes  the  life  of  a  young  man  from 
that  of  an  old  man  ?  Our  Saviour  mentioned  it.  The 
great  thing  that  marks  your  life  is  liberty.  You  re- 
member that  passage  in  which  Christ  said  to  Peter  : 
"When  thou  wast  young,  thou  girdedst  thyself,  and 


REPEATING   THE   LIFE    OF   CHRIST.  229 

walkedst  whither  thou  wouldest  :  but  when  thou  shalt 
be  old,  thou  shalt  stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another 
shall  gird  thee,  and  carry  thee  whither  thou  wouldest 
not."  The  ability  to  go  where  one  pleases  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing trait  of  youth.  I  can't  go  where  I  please. 
I  am  tied  to  my  profession.  You  can  take  any  one  of 
twenty  professions.  It  would  be  a  mistake  for  me  to 
leave  the  one  in  which  I  am  engaged.  You  can  go  to 
any  place  in  the  wide  world.  I  am  mortgaged  to  one 
place,  and  it  would  be  folly  for  me  to  leave  it.  Your 
habits  are  not  formed  :  mine  are.  You  have  this  liberty, 
and  the  question  is,  how  it  is  to  be  used.  God  never 
owned  a  slave.  Our  Lord  never  had  a  bondman.  He 
makes  us  free  in  order  that  any  service  we  render  to 
Him  shall  be  rendered  freely. 

What,  then,  is  the  first  thing  w^e  are  to  do  ?  The  first 
thing  we  are  to  do  with  liberty  is  to  inform  it.  We  are 
to  learn — to  sit  down  at  the  feet  of  those  who  are  older, 
and  let  them  instruct  us.  My  pastor,  when  I  was  a  boy, 
and  as  I  entered  on  my  Christian  life,  gave  me  a  piece 
of  advice.  He  said  :  "  Get  in  with  some  old  Christian, 
and  talk  with  him."  I  think  it  is  an  admirable  piece  of 
advice  for  any  young  disciple,  and  quite  as  likely  to 
hold  good  if  the  older  Christian  is  somebody  in  humble 
life.  I  heard  Professor  Park  say  when  I  was  a  student : 
"  I  learned  more  from  an  old  woman  in  an  almshouse 
than  from  anybody  else."  Not  long  ago  the  distin- 
;;^Liished  man  at  the  head  of  Andover  said  :  "I  owe  very 
much  to  a  poor  serving-woman.  She  came  into  my 
aouse  to  serve,  but  I  have  learned  more  from  her  than 
from  any  of  my  distinguished  colleagues  upon  whose 
preaching  I  am  delighted  to  wait."  Let  us  gain  from 
the  experience  of  others.  The  most  critical  point  of 
life  is  when  we  are  starting  out,  realizing  our  liberty. 


230  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  NORTHFIELD. 

As  long  as  a  ship  is  in  the  harbor,  a  boy  can  take  care 
of  her.  Out  at  sea  she  is  under  the  control  of  her  cap- 
tain and  crew.  Now,  there  is  a  class  of  men  whose 
work  is  entirely  between  the  harbor  and  the  sea.  It  is 
in  that  difficult  passage  especially  that  the  ship  needs 
guidance  ;  and  so  we  find  a  distinct  and  separate  class  of 
men  whose  duty  is  to  conduct  a  vessel  safely  among  the 
shallows  of  the  coast.  The  captain  who  should  not 
take  a  pilot  on  board,  and  thus  should  lose  his  ship, 
couldn't  collect  a  cent  of  insurance.  So  it  is  with  a 
young  man — no  longer  tied  to  his  mother's  side,  and 
yet  not  a  man  in  the  conflict  of  the  world,  with  a  man's 
strength  and  experience.  What  he  needs  especially  is 
guidance.  He  should  sit  down  at  the  feet  of  the  elders 
— sit  down  at  the  feet  of  those  who  have  had  experience 
in  the  Christian  life  ;  and  above  all,  sit  down  with  the 
Word  of  God.  Let  us  be  instructed  by  God  Himself 
directly,  and  through  the  lives  and  lips  of  those  whom 
God  has  instructed,  what  seems  to  be  a  curtailment  of 
liberty  may  really  be  its  enlargement. 

The  second  thing  is  devotion  to  some  one  object. 
Select  some  one  thing,  and  then  give  yourself  up  to  it. 
*' Ah,"  says  one  ;  "let  me  do  anything  I  want  to."  You 
will  do  a  great  deal  better  if  you  will  select  some  one 
thing,  and  let  other  things  contribute  to  that.  Take 
one  dominant  thing,  and  make  that  your  choice.  He 
who  hunts  two  hares  loses  both,  "Unstable  as  water, 
thou  shalt  not  excel."  Suppose  you  want  to  go  to 
Europe.  The  moment  you  step  into  the  vessel,  you  find 
that  the  rule  is  submission.  The  passengers  are  required 
to  submit  to  a  certain  restraint  imposed  for  the  good  of 
all.  Perhaps  you  say  :  "  I  am  not  going  to  be  restrained. 
I  will  jump  off  with  a  log,  and  I  will  swim  as  far  as  I 
can^  and  then  I  dare  say  a  passing  vessel  will  pick  me 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE   OF  CHRIST.  23 1 

Up.  If  they  try  to' govern  me,  I'll  get  off  again,  and 
swim  a  little  farther,  and  by-and-by  in  this  way,  without 
consenting  to  restraint,  I  will  get  to  Europe."  But  will 
you  get  there  ?  Not  at  all.  You  will  be  drowned — or 
you  ought  to  be.  How  can  you  get  there  ?  By  sub- 
mitting to  the  wills  of  others  for  a  certain  period.  You 
go  on  board  a  steamship,  and  the  first  thing  that  meets 
you  is  a  commandment — "  Thou  shalt  eat  thy  breakfast 
at  a  certain  time  ";  and  you  find  a  great  many  other  re- 
quirements. By  consenting  to  them  you  make  all  those 
things  subservient  to  that  one  choice  of  yours,  and  you 
get  to  your  destination.  You  have  entered  into  a  com- 
pact, and  soon  your  eyes  are  greeted  by  Fastnet  Light. 
All  great  men  have  understood  this.  They  understand 
that  we  must  turn  from  things  that  are  agreeable  and 
profitable,  and  turn  to  something  else  that  is  more 
profitable.  I  am  not  very  much  afraid  of  you  regard- 
ing the  choice  between  the  right  and  the  wrong.  You 
have  chosen  the  right.  But  I  do  think  there  is  danger 
here  :  the  difficulty  with  you  is  not  the  choice  between 
the  right  and  the  wrong,  but  the  choice  between  the 
good  and  the  best.  The  great  danger  is  not  that  we 
will  choose  whether  to  drown  ourselves  or  to  swim;  but 
how  we  will  choose  between  the  log  and  the  ship — 
whether  we  shall  choose  to  do  well,  or  "about  as  well 
as  we  can."  There  comes  the  great  danger,  and  there 
is  a  wonderful  saving  of  strength  and  a  wonderful 
economy  of  time  when  once  we  have  used  our  liberty 
v/isely — by  choosing  deliberately  the  one  thing  we  will 
do,  and  then  making  everything  else  subservient  to  it. 
This  is  what  St.  Paul  did.  You  remember  his  proud 
boast  to  the  Corinthians.  He  says  :  "  Am  I  not  free  ?  " 
and  then  goes  on  to  mention  three  cases  in  which  he  is 
free,     "  Have  we  no  right  to  eat  and  to  drink  ? "    They 


?32  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

had  been  discussing  the  question  of  eating  meat  offered 
to  idols.  Paul  taught  that  it  made  no  difference  if  meat 
liad  been  placed  before  a  stone  image  ;  and  he  says  :  "I 
have  a  perfect  right  to  eat  of  it,  but  I  won't."  Again  he 
says  :  "  I  have  a  perfect  right  to  be  married,  but  I 
won't."  And  again  he  says  :  "  Do  you  say,  'You  have 
no  right  to  draw  your  salary.  You  are  not  an  ordained 
minister.'  I  am.  I  have  seen  Jesus.  I  am  an  Apostle, 
and  I  have  a  right  to  draw  my  salary ;  and  having  a 
right  to  take  it,  I  won't  take  it."  There  were  many 
things  he  had  a  right  to  do  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  the 
greater  efficiency  of  his  work  he  turned  from  them  all, 
and  went  steadily  on  in  the  pursuit  of  his  mission.  You 
had  a  beautiful  instance  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Hanning- 
ton.  In  his  youth  he  was  insubordinate  ;  but  finally  he 
said  :  "  This  won't  do.  I  can't  have  a  dozen  different 
plans.  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  will  do  this  :  I  will  become 
a  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  As  soon  as  he 
had  thus  resolved,  he  made  everything  else  give  way  to 
his  one  purpose.  He  gathered  the  country  people,  and 
preached  to  them.  After  a  while  he  needed  money  to 
promote  his  work.  He  had  a  beautiful  horse.  It  was  a 
very  desirable  animal,  but  he  wanted  money  more  than 
he  wanted  the  horse  ;  so,  without  taking  counsel  of  any- 
body, because  everybody  said  he  was  foolish,  he  led  out 
his  favorite,  passed  his  hand  over  its  slender  neck, 
looked  down  into  the  deep  brown  eyes,  and  then  went 
out  and  sold  it,  and  took  the  money,  and  went  on  with 
his  great  purpose.  Men  might  have  said  he  was  re- 
stricting his  rights.  Not  at  all.  He  was  enlarging  his 
rights.  He  turned  the  carriage-house  into  a  chapel,  and 
labored  among  the  people  of  his  neighborhood.  By- 
and-by  there  came  a  time  when  he  was  guided  anew. 
He  saw  Africa  opening  before  him.     Giving  up  every- 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  233 

thing  of  value,  he  responded  to  the  call.  Didn't  he  like 
England  ?  Yes.  Didn't  he  like  his  family  and  friends  ? 
Certainly.  But  nothing  must  prevent  him  from  devot- 
ing himself  to  the  one  thing  he  had  chosen  to  do.  It 
wasn't  a  choice  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  but  it 
was  between  the  good  and  the  best.  James  Russell 
Lowell  tells  of  a  Boston  merchant  who  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  would  be  a  man.  Said  he  to  himself  :  "  I 
am  not  going  to  be  controlled  by  the  world.  I  am  go- 
ing to  be  just  as  great  and  good  a  man  as  ever  I  can." 
In  course  of  time  a  ship  he  owned  with  a  valuable  cargo 
became  over-due.  Two  or  three  days  passed,  and  it 
didn't  come.  A  week  went  by,  and  it  didn't  come.  He 
began  to  be  a  little  troubled.  Then  he  awoke,  and  said 
to  himself  :  "  How  is  this  ?  I  am  too  anxious.  I  am 
staking  my  manhood  on  a  ship.  Have  I  got  down  to 
that  ?  I'll  fight  the  thing  out."  He  went  and  took  an 
amount  of  stocks  equal  to  the  value  of  the  cargo,  and 
gave  it  away  in  charity.  He  said  :  "You  don't  get  me 
that  way.  I  am  not  going  to  sell  my  manhood  for  two 
or  three  hundred  thousand  dollars."  Didn't  he  value  the 
ship  ?  Certainly.  If  you  ever  find  a  man  who  speaks 
lightly  of  money,  keep  clear  of  him.  It  isn't  healthy 
for  a  man  not  to  like  money — I  wish  we  all  had  it.  It 
wasn't  wrong  to  like  money,  or  to  want  the  ship  to 
come  in  ;  but  then  it  wasn't  the  best  He  had  set  out 
to  be  a  man,  and  the  ship  came  in  the  way. 

Now,  you  will  ask,  what  that  one  thing  is.  Our  choice 
in  life  must  be  a  cubic  choice.  It  must  have  three  di- 
mensions. First,  it  must  be  very  high — as  high  as  I  can 
reach  with  my  life.  Next,  it  must  be  very  broad  :  cover- 
ing all  the  powers  of  my  life — mind,  voice,  hands,  feet. 
And  then  it  must  be  very  long — run  out  seventy  years. 
I  can't  afford  to  swap  horses  in  the  middle  of  the  stream. 


234  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

I  can't  afford  to  change  my  choice  at  thirty  or  forty. 
We  are  to  make  our  choice  the  highest,  the  broadest, 
and  the  longest  possible.  This  is  to  be  our  aim  :  that 
the  life  of  Christ  in  us  shall  be  and  do  what  the  life  of 
Christ  was  and  did  in  Himself.  We  are  so  to  live  that 
our  life  shall  repeat  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  That 
and  that  only  must  be  the  choice.  Have  you  chosen 
that  ?  I  thought  of  asking  the  other  day  if  every  man 
here  was  a  Christian.  I  supposed  it  was  hardly  neces- 
sary ;  but  I  observed  in  one  of  Mr.  Moody's  addresses 
that  he  thought  it  possible  there  was  some  one  here  who 
was  not  Christ's  disciple.  Is  there  such  an  one  ?  Then 
start  now.  Let  this  be  your  choice  at  the  outset  of  your 
life.  Do  you  so  choose  ?  What  comes  of  it  ?  Christ 
employing  us — using  us.  I  hold  that  if  there  is  any- 
thing true,  it  is  this  :  that  when  God  wants  a  man  to  do 
a  thing,  and  the  man  wants  to  do  it,  God  will  tell  him 
what  He  wants  him  to  do.  Have  you  read  that  story 
told,  I  think,  by  Anna  Shipton  ?  Sitting  on  the  strand, 
she  noticed  five  vessels  at  anchor.  It  was  a  very  calm 
morning.  The  vessels  were  anchored  here  and  there, 
and  nobody  seemed  to  be  doing  anything.  At  last  one 
vessel  seemed  to  have  a  little  movement.  It  wanted  to 
do  something,  as  if  it  was  alive.  The  sails  went  up,  and 
the  anchor  was  raised,  and  the  ship  moved  grandly  into 
the  harbor.  She  watched  it  with  interest,  as  it  was  the 
only  living  thing  in  all  the  wide  expanse,  and  wondered 
curiously  what  the  name  of  the  vessel  might  be.  Grad- 
ually the  stern  of  the  boat  came  within  her  sight,  and 
there  she  read  that  the  name  of  the  adventurous  craft 
was,  "  The  Willing  Mind."  If  there  be  first  a  willing 
mind,  I  am  sure  there  will  be  Divine  guidance,  and  Di- 
vine instruction,  and  Divine  employment — Christ  setting 
us  to  do  the  work  which  He  Himself  came  into  the  world 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  235 

to  do.  Brethren,  it  is  truer  than  we  think  that  the  life 
of  Christ  is  to  repeat  itself  in  us  ;  and  the  world  is  to 
hear  Him,  and  see  Him,  and  feel  Him,  as  it  recognizes 
our  presence  and  our  influence. 

Now,  let  me  adv^ance  one  step  further.  What  is  con- 
secration ?  It  is  simply  a  consenting  to  let  the  life  of 
Christ  do  what  it  wants  to  do  in  us.  And  that  ought  to 
be  a  joy  and  a  delight.  Think  out  of  how  many  per- 
plexities and  doubts  and  uncertainties  it  delivers  us.  I 
remember  in  the  height  of  our  war,  when  every  one 
seemed  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do — President  bewil- 
dered, Congress  bewildered.  In  a  parlor  in  Washington 
sat  Admiral  Farragut.  Some  one  was  speaking  of  the 
uncertainty.  Said  the  Admiral  :  "  I  have  one  great  ad- 
vantage in  this  matter.  I  have  only  to  go  where  I  am 
sent."  I  think  when  a  Christian  quotes  that  language 
he  is  taken  out  of  all  bewilderment.  I  often  think  of 
an  incident  in  the  life  of  Leonard  Woods,  President  of 
Bowdoin  College.  When  he  was  in  Prance,  he  was  in- 
vited with  others  to  dine  with  the  king — Louis  Philippe, 
I  think.  They  presented  themselves  at  the  palace,  and 
entering  a  large  room,  went  down  to  meet  the  king  at 
the  other  end.  The  king  met  them  with  his  accustomed 
courtesy,  and  said  :  "  We  did  not  know  that  we  were  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  your  company  to-day.  You  did 
not  answer  our  invitation."  Leonard  Woods  said  :  "  We 
thought  the  invitation  of  a  king  was  to  be  obeyed — not 
answered."  That  was  one  of  the  wittiest  and  the  read- 
iest things  ever  said  ;  and  it  is  the  Christian  thing. 

"  Theirs  not  to  reason  why — 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die." 

Or  rather,  "and  live."  What  does  the  life  of  Christ 
teach  us?    He  said;  "The  Son  of  Man  came  to  seek 


236  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Again  He  said  : 
"  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many," 
This  is  what  the  Divine  life  is  striving  to  do  in  us.  If 
we  would  be  sure  that  we  are  doing  the  will  of  Christ, 
there  must  be  this  element  in  our  work  :  a  seeking  to 
minister,  and  not  to  be  ministered  unto — a  seeking  to 
save  the  lost.  Does  the  life  of  Christ  in  you  seem  to  be 
different  from  what  it  was  in  Him  ?  There  is  very  grave 
reason  to  doubt  whether  it  is  in  us  at  all  if  it  is  such  a 
different  thing  in  us — if  there  is  no  sympathy — no  desire 
to  help  others — no  reaching  out  in  a  sacrificial  spirit 
with  the  passion  of  seeking  and  saving  that  which  is 
lost.  You  can't  take  that  out  of  the  heart  of  Christ. 
He  said  :  "  I  am  the  vine  ;  ye  are  the  branches."  There 
is  this  peculiarity  about  the  vine.  It  is  of  no  use  at  all 
but  to  bear  fruit.  A  tree  gives  us  wood,  with  which  we 
build  houses.  There  are  a  hundred  things  you  can  do 
with  a  barren  tree  ;  but  what  can  you  do  with  a  barren 
vine  ?  The  solitary  use  of  the  vine  is  to  bear  fruit.  Our 
Lord  says  :  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you  that 
My  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might 
be  full."  And  there  can  be  no  higher  joy  than  that :  to 
receive  the  sacrificial  life  of  Christ,  so  that  men  shall 
drink  of  our  life  even  as  we  drink  the  life  of  God. 

Another  thing  that  brings  this  matter  a  little  closer  is 
this  :  Jesus  reached  thus  out  before  men  knew  and  un- 
derstood it.  He  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  on  a  Sabbath 
day  went  up  te  the  Temple.  Nobody  wanted  Him 
there.  The  priests  were  there,  the  services  were  going 
on  ;  but  nobody  cared  for  Him — a  stranger  in  His  Fa- 
ther's house.  He  went  out  from  the  Temple,  and  went 
through  the  sheepgate  to  the  pool  called  Bethesda.  It 
was  supposed  that  the  waters  of  this  pool  had  wonder- 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  21J 

ful  virtue — that  at  certain  times  after  an  angel  had 
stirred  them,  whoever  stepped  in  first  was  healed  of 
whatever  disease  he  had.  Jesus  came  and  stood  there. 
He  saw  one  man  whom  nobody  else  seemed  to  care 
about,  and  looking  in  his  face,  spoke  to  him.  He  asked  : 
**Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?"  Why;  he  had  been  a 
cripple  more  years  than  Jesus  had  been  in  the  world. 
He  was  a  cripple  when  the  angels  sang  over  Bethlehem. 
Until  that  blessed  moment  this  man  was  a  poor  wretched 
cripple.  He  had  found  his  way  somehow  to  the  pool, 
but  as  yet  had  failed  to  derive  any  benefit  from  its  heal- 
ing waters.  Jesus  said:  "Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?" 
Said  the  poor  cripple  :  "  Sir,  I  have  no  man  " — almost 
the  saddest  cry  in  the  Gospel  story.  *'  I  have  no  man  " 
in  all  that  multitude  of  priests,  and  the  throng  passing 
through  the  gate.  "  I  have  no  man  to  put  me  into  the 
pool."  There  was  a  great  vacancy  in  that  thronged  city 
of  Jerusalem.  And  Jesus  came  between — He  stood 
where  no  man  would  stand — He  stood  between  the 
mercy  of  God  and  the  need  of  this  cripple,  and  gave  him 
help  ;  and  the  man  took  up  his  couch,  and  went  away 
to  his  home.  He  stood  between;  He  filled  this  place, 
and  gave  the  man  to  drink  of  His  own  Divine  power. 
And  what  came  of  him  then  ?  I  think  I  should  like  to 
follow  that  man's  life.  It  was  not  long,  I  have  thought, 
before  he  came  back  again  to  help  others  into  the  pool. 
If  he  was  in  business,  he  closed  his  day  half  an  hour 
earlier  in  order  to  hasten  to  the  pool — possibly  there 
might  be  some  one  that  needed  to  be  put  in.  Perhaps 
there  came  to  be  an  institution  in  Jerusalem,  and  this 
man  was  the  secretary,  and  the  treasurer,  and  all  the 
officers — whose  object  was  to  fill  the  place  where  there 
was  "no  man."  I  have  sometimes  fancied  that  among 
the  unrecorded  miracles  of  which  John   speaks,   there 


238  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NOKTHFIELD. 

were  some  that  were  wrought  because  this  man  brought 
the  healing  mercy  to  needy  ones.  And  that  place  re- 
mains still  ;  and  the  law  of  the  Divine  life — the  law  of 
the  Christian  life,  is  this  :  that  every  Christian  is  bound 
to  stand  where  the  "  no  man  "  is — between  the  mercy  of 
God  and  those  who  need  it.  Some  one  must  stand  be- 
tween the  hungry  multitude  and  Christ  with  the  bread; 
and  the  disciples  distributed  His  bounty  Some  one 
must  stand  between  the  sick  man  and  Jesus  in  the  house 
where  He  could  heal;  and  four  men  bore  the  one  smitten 
with  palsy.  We  are  to  come  between  the  water  and  the 
thirsty  lips.  How  do  you  happen  to  be  a  Christian  ? 
By  what  agency  did  you  come  to  Christ  ?  I  presume 
every  one  of  us  can  say  some  one  came  between  him  and 
Christ — your  father,  your  mother,  your  teacher.  Will 
you  allow  me  to  give  you  a  little  of  my  own  history  ? 
When  I  was  a  boy  I  had  an  ordinary  Christian  training. 
I  always  went  to  the  prayer-meeting.  If  they  had  had 
inquiry-meetings  in  those  days,  and  those  who  wished 
to  become  Christians  had  been  asked  to  rise,  I  think  I 
would  have  been  one  to  rise.  And  I  went  on  in  that 
way  for  some  time.  I  wanted  to  be  a  Christian,  and 
didn't  know  how.  I  believe  we  overrate  what  people 
know  about  coming  to  Christ.  I  don't  believe  it  is  put 
simply  enough.  I  remember  meeting  my  pastor  many 
years  afterward,  and  he  knew  me  as  one  of  his  own 
boys.  I  said  :  "  I  owe  more  to  you  than  to  any  other 
man."  He  seemed  pleased.  "Well,"  he  said  ;  "if  you 
think  you  owe  so  much  to  me,  it  is  to  my  wife  you  owe 
it — or  rather  it  is  to  her  mother.  I'll  tell  you  the  story. 
I  thought  New  Bedford  was  a  hard  place  to  work  in.  I 
said  :  '  I  can't  do  anything  here.  I  will  go  along  and 
finish  the  year,  and  if  things  don't  improve  I  will  be 
gone.'    My  wife's  mother — ."     I  am  speaking  of  George 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE   OF  CHRIST.  239 

L.  Prentiss,  whose  wife  has  taught  us  all  of  "  Stepping 
Heavenward."  Mrs.  Prentiss's  mother  came  to  visit  her 
daughter,  and  they  were  talking  things  over.  ''  My 
wife's  mother  said  :  '  Why  doesn't  he  preach  to  some  one 
in  particular.  Xov»',  there  is  that  young  McKenzie. 
Why  doesn't  he  see  if  he  can't  do  something  with  him  ?' 
Well  ;  Lizzie  told  me,  and  I  asked  you  to  come  and  see 
me."  Yes  ;  he  asked  me  to  go  and  see  him  ;  and  I 
we^fcand  here  I  am.  He  stood  between  me  and  the 
water.  I  believe  what  Mr.  Moody  says  about  sudden 
conversions.  I  believe  in  them  more  and  more.  I  find 
people  who  don't  know  the  time  of  their  conversion.  I 
can  remember  just  as  well  as  if  it  was  this  morning  the 
place  where  I  knelt.  I  can  see  that  little  yellow  church 
now,  where  I  knelt  down  just  as  he  told  me.  I  said  : 
"  Lord,  here  is  my  heart,  and  here  is  my  life."  I  was  a 
boy  in  a  store,  and  as  I  went  down  the  street,  I  remem- 
ber that  for  the  first  time  I  enjoyed  the  Psalms.  I 
found  myself  singing  along  :  "  Praise  the  Lord  I  Praise 
the  Lord  I  "  Now,  that  has  been  very  instructive  to  me. 
Oh,  that  "  no  man  "  —  "  no  man  to  put  me  into  the  pool." 
There  is  a  beautiful  incident  in  Louis  Agassiz's  life. 
He  lived  in  Switzerland,  on  the  border  of  a  lake.  His 
father  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake.  He  had  a  lit- 
tle brother,  and  the  two  boys  thought  they  would  like 
to  join  their  father.  The  lake  was  covered  with  ice,  and 
they  were  to  walk  across.  The  mother  stood  at  the 
window  watching  them — anxious,  as  mothers  are — see- 
ing them  getting  along  very  well  till  at  length  they 
came  to  a  crack  in  the  ice,  perhaps  a  foot  wide.  Her 
heart  failed  her.  She  thought :  "That  little  fellow  will 
try  to  step  over.  Louis  will  get  over  well  enough,  but 
the  little  fellow  will  fall  in."  She  couldn't  call  to  them 
— thev  were  too  far.     What  could   she  do  ?     I  used  to 


240  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

look  at  Louis  Agassiz,  when  I  was  a  student  at  Har- 
vard College,  and  thought  he  was  the  finest-looking  man 
I  ever  saw  ;  but  there  is  nothing  in  his  life  that  interests 
me  so  much  as  just  this  little  story.  His  mother 
watched  him,  and  as  she  watched,  Louis  got  down  on 
the  ice — his  feet  on  one  side  of  the  crack,  his  hands  on 
the  other,  just  like  a  bridge — and  his  little  brother  crept 
over  him  to  the  other  side.  Then  Louis  got  up,  and 
they  went  on  their  way  to  their  father.  Oh,  young 
men,  the  only  vacancy  in  the  world  to-day  is  over'that 
crack.  Every  other  place  is  filled.  Every  bank  is 
crowded.  All  the  trades  are  crowded.  There  is  only 
one  vacancy.  Will  you  get  down  there  ?  "  It  costs 
something."  Will  you  get  down  ?  "  Ah,  but  it  is  wet." 
I  know.  Will  you  get  down  ?  "  Well  ;  my  clothes — " 
Will  you  get  down  ?  "  Well  ;  I  wasn't  thinking  of  do- 
ing that.  I  was  thinking — "  Will  you  get  down  ? 
"  Well ;  somebody  else  might — "  Will  you  get  down  ? 
"Well  ;  I  ought  to  go  home  and — "  Will  you  get  down 
on  the  ice  and  let  somebody  go  over  you  ?  That  is 
what  Christ  did.  He  came  down  from  the  throne, 
stretched  Himself  out  upon  the  cross,  and  every  soul 
that  ever  finds  Heaven  goes  over  the  Cross.  He  was 
willing  to  get  down — for  one,  for  many.  I  went  the 
other  day  to  Mount  McGregor,  and  stood  in  the  room 
where  General  Grant  died.  There  on  the  table  was  a 
candle  and  its  blackened  wick.  He  blew  it  out  with  his 
dying  breath.  Will  you  light  it,  and  carry  it  through 
the  land  ?  Somewhere  there  is  a  rude  candlestick,  and 
there  is  no  candle  in  it.  David  Livingstone  pressed  his 
way  into  the  heart  of  Africa,  came  to  an  African's  hut, 
entered  it  sick  and  dying,  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  gave 
up  his  soul  to  God.  On  that  rough  box  by  his  side 
a  candle  burned  into  its  socket.     And  that  candlestick 


REPEATING   THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  241 

is  there.     Have  you  got  a  spare  candle  ?     Light  it,  and 
light  the  dark  continent. 

And  now,  brethren,  remember  what  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  said.  Those  words  are- our  highest  authority — 
our  Divine  commission.  I  never  can  read  them  but  they 
strengthen  my  faith.  Jesus  was  speaking  to  His  Father. 
Eleven  men  overheard  it,  and  one  of  them  wrote  down 
what  He  said — thus  :  "  Father,  I  pray  for  them.  As 
Thou  didst  send  Me  into  the  world,  even  so  send  I  them 
into  the  world."  "  Even  so  " — with  the  same  love,  for 
the  same  sacrifice,  by  the  same  redemption.  Brethren, 
kneel  for  a  moment.  Let  me  lay  those  pierced  hands 
upon  your  head  and  ordain  you  with  His  own  appoint- 
ment. "  Even  so."  And  this  other  word  :  Jesus  said 
strange  words  of  promise  and  of  hope.  He  said.  The 
works  that  He  did  we  should  do,  "  and  greater  works 
than  these."  He  turns  us  from  the  miracles  unto  higher 
things  which  are  within  our  reach  as  His  disciples.  He 
might  have  given  to  us  to  lay  our  fingers  upon  the  be- 
nighted eyes  and  give  them  sight ;  to  put  our  hands 
upon  the  crooked  ankle-bones  and  give  them  strength  ; 
to  speak  to  the  sick  and  bring  them  back  to  health,  and 
to  summon  the  dead  to  life  again.  Greater  works  than 
these  are  yours  and  mine.  For  if  you  shall  open  the 
eyes  of  a  man  and  he  sees  God — if  you  shall  touch  his 
ankle-bones  and  he  walks  with  God — if  you  shall  bring 
healing  to  his  spirit,  and  he  is  made  holy — if  you  shall 
call  the  dead  to  the  life  of  a  child  of  God,  your  greater 
work  is  done.  Brethren,  there  is  a  vacancy.  "  Even  so." 
"  He  that  believeth  on  Me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he 
do  also  ;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do." 
That  is  what  life  means  to-day.  I  happened  a  few  years 
ago  to  be  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  on  an  island  under 
the  British  flag  I  found  a  little  desolate  closed  chapel. 


242  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

I  talked  with  an  old  fisherman,  and  when  he  was  mourn- 
ing over  the  desolation  of  Zion  1  asked  him  to  get  the 
people  together  and  I  would  hold  a  service.  Going 
home  one  day  as  we  walked  along,  that  old  fisherman 
invited  me  into  his  house.  There  upon  the  wall  was  a 
little  picture.  It  wasn't  very  fine  ;  it  wasn't  painted  by 
one  of  the  Royal  Academy  ;  it  was  a  very  simple  little 
picture  :  a  vessel  upon  the  rocks  in  a  tempestuous  sea, 
and  then  a  boat  with  two  boys  in  it  going  to  help.  The 
old  fisherman  looked  at  the  picture,  and  with  a  tearful 
face  said  :  "  That  boat  there — that  is  my  boy."  And 
then  he  told  me  the  story.  He  said  :  "  That  vessel  went 
upon  the  rocks.  They  saw  it,  and  nobody  knew  what 
to  do.  It  was  a  terrible  storm.  The  sea  was  very  high, 
so  that  they  couldn't  do  anything.  Yet  they  couldn't 
bear  to  let  the  ship  go  down  and  the  men  without  doing 
something,  and  they  went  out  in  that  vessel  you  see 
there.  They  got  up  near,  and  they  couldn't  get  any 
nearer.  They  knew  no  boat  could  live  in  that  sea,  and 
all  they  could  do  was  just  to  stay  there,  and  the  vessel 
on  the  rocks  was  going  to  pieces.  My  boy  couldn't 
stand  it.  He  went  to  the  captain  and  said  :  *  Captain,  I 
am  going  to  save  those  men.'  And  the  captain  said  : 
*  Nelson,  if  you  try  it,  you'll  be  drownded.'  And  my  boy 
says  :  *  Captain,  I'm  not  thinking  of  being  drownded. 
I'm  thinking  of  saving  those  men.'  And  one  of  the  men 
said  :  *  I'll  go  with  you.'  They  went,  and  they  saved 
every  one  of  the  men  in  the  wreck.  And  my  boy  said 
to  me  after  he  got  back  :  '  Father,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if 
the  waves  were  smoother  near  us  than  they  were  every- 
where around.*  And  I  said  :  *  Nelson,  my  boy  ;  that  is 
God.'  "  This  is  the  word  I  want  to  leave  with  you.  If 
you  are  thinking  of  being  "  drownded,"  why,  "  drownd- 
ed "  you  will  be  ;  but  if  you  are  thinking  of  "saving  those 


REPEATING  THE   LIFE   OF  CHRIST.  243 

men,"  saved  those  men  will  be.  So  we  start  to-day. 
The  great  stream  of  life  carries  us  forward.  We  part 
to  go  our  separate  ways.  You  and  I  shall  never  meet, 
all  of  us,  again.  What  is  your  resolution  ?  The  life 
that  is  in  us  is  the  life  of  Christ.  Let  it  do  as  He  will. 
Oh,  Thou  Christ ;  Thy  will  be  done  !  And  so  our  ves- 
sels separate.  God  guide  us,  and  keep  us.  God  bless 
you.  Brother  Moody,  Brother  Sankey  !  God  bless  you 
from  over  the  sea,  and  those  of  our  own  land.  We  go 
out  to  seek  and  to  save — saving  that  which  is  lost ;  and 
God  be  with  us  till  we  meet  again  ! 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

MISSIONARY    WORK    IN    CHINA. 

Extracts  from  an  Address  by  the  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor — "All 
Power" — Implicit  Faith  and  Obedience— Our  Immediate  Duty — 
Heathenism  in  its  True  Colors — Millions  of  Souls  Dying — 
Dilemma  of  Two  Students — A  Chinese  Scholar's  Experiment — 
Conversion  of  an  Outlaw — Persecution  Overruled  for  Good. 

"All  power  is  given  unto  Me  in  Heaven  and  in 
earth."  The  Lord  made  a  great  deal  of  that  sentence 
to  me  a  few  years  ago,  when  He  laid  upon  me  the  need 
of  the  perishing  millions  of  inland  China.  In  China 
proper  there  are  eighteen  provinces,  and  eleven  of  those 
provinces  hadn't  a  single  witness  for  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  before  the  work  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  was 
commenced.  After  spending  three  years  in  China,  as 
the  first  English  missionary  of  the  Chinese  Evangeliza- 
tion Society,  I  was  engaged  in  London  for  several  years 
in  revising  a  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  col- 
loquial Chinese.  We  had  a  map  of  China  on  the  wall 
of  my  study,  so  that  we  couldn't  raise  our  eyes  without 
seeing  it.  We  were  feasting  upon  God's  precious  Word 
as  well  as  working  upon  it — finding  how  wonderfully 
perfect  it  was,  and  finding  more  and  more  evidence  of 
how  thoroughly  it  was  verbally  inspired — and  desir- 
ing to  bring  as  much  as  we  could  of  the  force  of  the 
original  into  our  version,  we  looked  up  for  guidance.  We 
saw  that  map  of  China  there,  and  thought  of  the  millions 
and  hundreds  of  millions  for  whom  there  was  not  a  crumb 
(244) 


MISSIONARY   WORK   IN   CHINA.  245 

of  the  bread  of  life  broken  ;  and  oh,  how  soul-hungry 
we  became  for  those  millions  !  And  the  pain  became 
so  great  that  we  couldn't  work,  and  we  had  to  fall  down 
and  pray,  and  roll  the  burden  on  the  Lord.  We  went 
on  praying  for  a  good  while.  You  know,  you  may  work 
without  praying,  but  you  can't  pray  without  working. 
We  used  sometimes  to  go  to  the  City  of  London  and 
have  a  talk  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  or  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety, or  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  or  the  Lon- 
don, or  Wesleyan,  or  some  other  missionary  society, 
trying  to  induce  them  to  do  something  for  inland  China. 
Well,  we  had  very  kindly  attention,  and  everybody  ad- 
mitted that  there  was  a  very  great  need  ;  but  the  way 
didn't  seem  open  at  all  to  meet  that  need.  We  very  fre- 
quently had  the  old  money-bag  brought  forward.  You 
remember  when  our  Lord  fed  the  multitude,  the  disci- 
ples were  wondering,  "How  are  we  going  to  feed  so 
many?"  Philip  said  :  "Two  hundred  pennyworth  will 
not  be  enough."  But  Jesus  began  with  what  they  had. 
People  always  talk  about  money  ;  and  it  was  so  with 
these  missionary  societies.  Oh,  how  my  heart  blesses 
God  for  what  they  are  doing — every  one  of  them  !  I 
wish  they  had  ten  times  as  much  money  as  they  have. 
They  would  make  good  use  of  it,  and  God  would  bless 
the  use  they  made  of  it.  But  when  we  rely  on  it,  dear 
friends,  we  are  beginning  the  wrong  way.  They  said 
that  men  were  needed  for  Africa,  and  Madagascar,  and 
other  places,  and  they  hadn't  the  means  to  send  them. 
The  money-bag  came  in  the  way.  And  then  there  was 
this  idea:  "Well,  you  know,"  they  said,  "inland  China 
isn't  open.  We  must  wait  until  China  is  providentially 
opened."  A  thoughtful  man,  when  he  hears  that,  is  apt 
to  say:  "What  does  that  mean?"     It  means   that  we 


246  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIE'LD. 

must  wait  till  the  servants  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  go  to 
war  with  the  Chinese,  and  blow  the  people  to  pieces — 
perhaps  force  more  opium  upon  them  ;  and  then  when 
the  devil  has  done  the  devil's  work,  it  will  be  safe  for 
us  missionaries  to  go  in  there.  If  the  Apostles  of  old 
had  waited  until  there  was  a  treaty  between  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Roman 
Empire  on  the  other,  to  allow  the  peaceful  propagation 
of  the  Gospel,  the  world  would  not  have  been  evangel- 
ized to-day  to  the  extent  it  is.  Sometimes,  in  reply  to 
the  objection  that  China  was  not  open,  I  used  a  pleas- 
antry. I  said  :  "  Do  you  ever  pay  a  morning  call  ?  If 
you  do,  do  you  send  a  servant  first  to  ascertain  whether 
the  hall  door  is  open,  or  do  you  go  and  knock  until  it  is 
opened  ? "  I  didn't  expect  myself  to  find  the  door  open 
until,  like  Peter,  we  came  up  to  the  great  gate  ;  and 
then  I  expected  it  to  open  of  itself — as,  in  point  of  fact, 
it  did. 

When  Jesus  says:  *'A11  power  is  given  unto  Me  in 
Heaven  and  in  earth,"  surely  we  need  nothing  more.  I 
used  to  say  :  "  The  Lord  Jesus  now  hdlds  all  the  power 
of  China.  The  Lord  Jesus  now  holds  all  the  power  of 
those  provinces  in  which  the  Gospel  is  not  yet  preached. 
The  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to  set  before  us  an  open  door. 
Our  Lord  would  have  us  step  forward  like  Abraham,  not 
knowing  where  we  are  going.  He  will  provide  all  that 
is  needful  on  the  journey.  'All  power  is  given.'  Now, 
it  doesn't  take  any  more  power  to  open  a  Chinese  city 
than  it  does  to  open  a  European  city.  It  doesn't  take  any 
more  power  to  open  a  Chinaman's  heart  than  it  does  to 
open  the  heart  of  an  Englishman,  or  a  Frenchman,  or 
any  other  man  Nothing  but  Almighty  power  will  open 
any  man's  heart,  and  that  very  thing  Almighty  power  is 
ready  and  able  to  do,     *  All  power  is  given  unto  Me.' 


MISSIONARY  WORK   IN   CHINA.  247 

And  He  has  got  the  power  of  the  money-bag  too.  It  is 
a  great  thing  to  know  that  He  has  in  His  hand  all  the 
gold  of  the  world,  and  we  have  only  to  go  to  headquar- 
ters to  get  all  that  is  wanted." 

"  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations."  In  going  to 
China  vve  didn't  try  to  evangelize.  We  saw  before  going 
the  fallacy  of  that  idea  :  that  we  must  try  to  6bey  the 
commands  of  God  as  far  as  we  could.  I  searched  first 
through  the  New  and  then  the  Old  Testament  to  find 
an  instance  in  which  God  ever  commanded  His  people 
to  try  to  do  anything.  Taking  the  "  Englishman's  He- 
brew Concordance  "  and  a  Greek  Concordance,  I  went 
very  carefully  through  the  whole  Bible  to  see  if  there 
was  any  command  to  attempt  to  obey.  We  were  not  to 
try  to  evangelize  the  eleven  provinces  of  China,  but  to 
evangelize  them  ;  not  to  try  to  save,  but  definitely  to 
turn  men  from  darkness  to  light,  God  wants  us  al- 
ways to  remember  that  we  are  united  to  Him  by 
faith,  and  that  there  is  Divine  power  at  the  back  of 
us  to  fulfil  Divine  commands.  Now,  it  has  been  for  so 
many  years  such  a  glad  testimony  that  we  have  been 
able  to  *^go."  We  have  been  into  those  provinces.  We 
didn't  try  to  go,  but  we  went  ;  we  didn't  try  to  evan- 
gelize, but  we  did  evangelize.  And — praise  the  Lord  ! 
— He  has  been  giving  us  the  joy  of  baptizing  over  3,000 
souls  during  the  last  twenty-two  years  ;  and  there  are 
living,  churches  in,  I  think,  over  sixty  places  at  the 
present  time,  larger  and  smaller,  of  living  Christians 
who  are  living  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  various 
parts  of  those  long-closed  provinces.  We  don't  go  on 
any  haphazard  errand. 

The  Master  is  going  to  send  you  back  to  your  uni- 
versities and  colleges  with  a  distinct  mission.     You  are 


248  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

to  turn  men  from  darkness  to  light — not  to  try  to  do  it. 
You  are  to  deliver  men  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
the  power  of  God,  You  go  back  to  do  it  ;  not  to  try  to 
do  it — not  hoping  that  somebody  may  be  benefited  by 
your  efforts.  Go  definitely  to  do  it,  in  the  power  of  the 
Lord,  and  expecting  to  see  it  done.  There  will  be  a 
glorious  gathering  here  next  year  if  you  do.  You  will 
have  some  grand  testimonies  to  bring  with  you;  and  Mr. 
Moody  will  give  you  a  chance  to  give  them,  no  doubt. 
There  will  be  something  worth  hearing  if  we  go  from  this 
convention  determined  that  in  our  homes,  our  colleges, 
and  universities — wherever  we  go — we  are  going  just  to 
fulfil  this  commission  that  the  Lord  gave  to  His  ser- 
vants long  ago,  and  gives  to  each  one  of  us  now.  And 
may  I  say  just  here  :  Let  us  not  despise  a  little  circle  of 
usefulness.  A  little  circle  of  usefulness  is  not  to  be  de- 
spised. A  light  that  doesn't  shine  beautifully  around 
the  family  table  at  home — a  light  that  isn't  worth  having 
in  the  home  or  the  college— isn't  fit  to  take  a  long  way 
off  to  do  a  great  service  somewhere  else.  Let  us  just  go 
with  this  message  to  shine  for  Jesus,  and  to  live  and 
work  for  Him  wherever  He  sends  us. 

"  Go  ye  therefore,  and  disciple  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  This  Word  of  God  is  not  only  verb- 
ally inspired,  but  the  very  order  of  the  words  is  inspired. 
Ignatius  Loyola  had  an  immense  amount  of  enthusiasm 
and  earnestness,  and  he  went  to  China  and  said:  "  Bap- 
tize those  people  right  off."  What  came  of  it  ?  All  his 
work  came  to  nothing.  He  didn't  go  the  Lord's  way 
about  it.  We  are  to  go,  and  make  disciples,  and  then 
baptize  them.  And  after  you  have  baptized  them,  re- 
member that  you  have  just  begun.  "Teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you/* 


MISSIONARY   WORK   IN  CHINA.  249 

"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  •unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  Ah,  the  Lord  is  a  living,  bright  reality  to  us, 
when  everybody  else  is  gone,  and  we  are  far  from  every- 
body else.  I  can  tell  you  He  does  speak  to  our  souls 
out  in  China.  I  speak  of  the  work  I  am  most  familiar 
with;  and  I  can  tell  you  He  reveals  Himself  to  us  out 
there  as  He  never  did  at  home.  Oh,  if  I  were  to  read  to 
you  extracts  from  the  scores  and  scores  and  scores  of 
letters  we  have  received  since  the  missionaries  went  out 
last  year — one  hundred  and  two  of  them — to  China,  you 
would  learn  something  of  the  blessing  they  enjoy.  They 
say  that  the  Saviour  is  with  them  in  a  very  remarkable 
degree,  and  that  He  blesses  them  as  He  never  did  in 
England,  They  are  very  thankful  for  their  own  sakes  that 
they  went — they  have  got  so  rich  by  going.  And  when 
I  go  there  and  see  our  missionaries,  and  see  their  beam- 
ing faces,  it  is  a  great  treat,  I  can  assure  you.  When 
our  dear  friend,  Mr.  George  Studd,  went  amongst  them, 
he  didn't  find  it  was  very  depressing.  I  am  quite  sure 
if  he  were  to  stand  up  here,  he  would  tell  you  of  the 
peace  and  joy  that  he  saw  filling  their  hearts  and  shin- 
ing in  their  countenances,  making  them  independent  of 
the  little  rufflings  of  earth  that  otherwise  might  have 
been  sources  of  worry.  I  am  on  my  way  to  China  now, 
and  I  am  impatient  to  be  there.  I  expect  to  get  many  a 
grasp  of  the  hand,  and  to  hear  many  a  missionary  say: 
"  Praise  the  Lord  for  ever  having  sent  me  to  China  !  " 

There  are  eighteen  provinces  in  China  proper.  You 
all  know  that  China  is  divided  into  China  proper  and 
the  dependencies  of  China.  These  latter  are  Corea, 
Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Turkestan,  and  Thibet.  The 
eighteen  provinces  of  China  proper  are  as  large  as  Eu- 
rope, including  Russia.  If  you  put  in  the  dependencies, 
you  have  a  country  there  as  large  as  a  Europe  and  a  half 


250  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT  'KORTIIFIELD. 

— or  nearly  so.  We'can't  speak  now  of  the  dependencies 
— three-fifths  of  the  Chinese  Empire;  but  just  remember 
as  we  leave  them — ah,  how  many,  many  millions  of  un- 
blessed souls  are  living  there,  all  of  them  idolaters  with- 
out exception,  and  this  Book  tells  us  something  about 
idolaters.  If  you  have  lived  amongst  the  heathen  you 
find  that  the  Bible  is  true  when  it  speaks  of  them  as 
abominable,  and  murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and 
sorcerers.  Dear  friends,  some  people  seem  to  think  that 
the  heathen  are  children  of  nature — a  beautiful  sort  of 
thing  that  has  been  unspoiled  by  the  presence  of  Bibles 
amongst  them.  But  it  is  not  so  at  all.  Those  who  have 
lived  amongst  them  know  what  the  heathen  are.  "But 
the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  the  abominable,  and 
murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and  idolaters,  and  all 
liars  " — and  you  know  every  idolater  almost  is  a  liar — 
"shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  which  burneth  with 
fire  and  brimstone  ;  which  is  the  second  death."  Are 
you  content  to  leave  those  people  to  die  and  go  to  Christ- 
less  graves  ?  If  you  are,  dear  friends,  I  wouldn't  be 
one  to  induce  you  to  go  to  China  or  any  other  mission- 
ary field;  we  don't  want  you  there.  You  would  do  no 
good  if  you  went  there.  We  only  want  those  who  are 
filled  with  compassion  toward  those  heathen,  and 
who  are  ready  to  say  :  "  Will  you  accept  us  for  such 
honorable  service  as  to  go  and  speak  the  name  of  the 
Saviour  and  be  His  instruments  in  bringing  many  of 
those  poor  idolaters  from  darkness  to  light  ? "  Of 
those  eighteen  provinces  of  China  proper,  there  were, 
when  we  first  went  there,  eleven  that  had  never  been 
visited  by  a  Christian  missionary.  Our  work  now 
covers  fifteen  provinces — in  two  of  which  it  is  itinerant. 
In  1865  two  young  men  wrote  to  me  from  the  West  of 
Scotland — nice,  earnest,  fine  young  fellows  they  were. 


MISSIONARY   WORK   IN   CHINA.  25 1 

They  had  both  had  a  good,  sound  English  education. 
They  were  engaged  in  places  of  business,  and  filling 
them  very  acceptably.  The  Lord  laid  upon  the  heart  of 
each  one  of  them  the  needs  of  inland  China,  and  they 
wrote  to  me,  offering  their  services  in  connection  with 
the  China  Inland  Mission.  They  had  never  been  to  col- 
lege at  all.  Some  of  their  friends  said  to  them  they 
would  make  a  great  mistake  if  they  went  to  China  with- 
out going  through  a  regular  college  course.  Now,  don't 
misunderstand  me.  I  have  recommended  people  to  take 
a  regular  college  course  before,  and  I  am  likely  to  do  it 
again;  but  I  don't  think  it  is  necessary  for  every  one  to 
have  a  college  course  who  wants  to  preach  the  Gospel. 
I  said:  "  In  China  a  million  souls  are  dying  every  month. 
In  seven  years  there  are  eighty-four  months.  While  you 
are  fitting  yourself,  therefore,  to  go  to  them,  eight3^-f our 
millions  of  those  poor  Chinese  will  have  passed  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  Gospel.  My  dear  friends,  if  I  were  in 
your  position  I  would  go  straight  to  China,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  some  of  those  people  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble." A  Christian  philanthropist,  much  interested  in 
China,  heard  of  these  young  men  who  were  anxious  to 
go  and  labor  there,  and  very  kindly  said  to  them:  "I 
will  be  at  charges  for  you  both  if  you  will  go  first  to 
college,  and  then  to  the  theological  hall.  I  will  bear 
your  expenses,  and  you  will  go  out  to  China  then  well 
equipped  for  your  service."  They  wrote  to  me,  saying: 
"What  shall  we  do?  Shall  we  consider  this  a  provi- 
dential opening,  and  follow  it  up,  or  would  you  still  ad- 
vise us  to  go  forward  ?"  I  just  said:  "My  dear  friends, 
I  can't  give  you  any  advice.  But  during  the  next  seven 
years  eighty-four  millions  of  souls  in  China  will  pass 
away  from  the  earth."  One  of  them  went  to  college, 
and  one  went  to  China.    Years  passed,  and  the  one  that 


252  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

went  to  China  came  home  and  met  his  fellow  a  few 
months  before  he  finished  his  college  course.  His  fellow 
seemed  to  be  greatly  depressed,  and  said  to  him:  *' Do 
you  know,  I  have  been  working  all  this  time  to  prepare 
for  China  ;  and  the  doctor  says  that  hard  study  has 
broken  my  constitution,  and  so  the  society  has  refused 
me,  and  I  am  not  allowed  to  go  at  all."  The  other  man 
that  had  just  come  home  from  China  had  founded  fifteen 
little  churches  in  places  where  the  Gospel  had  never 
been  heard,  and  baptized  nearly  a  hundred  converts. 

I  WOULD  like  to  tell  you  about  one  of  the  converts 
whom  Mr.  Stevenson  [the  missionary  referred  to  in  the 
preceding  incident]  was  instrumental  in  leading  to 
Christ.  The  Chinese  gentleman  of  whom  I  wish  to 
speak  was,  like  many  other  Chinese  scholars,  an  intelli- 
gent man — very  glad  to  buy  books  on  Western  science 
and  that  sort  of  thing.  He  had  purchased  a  number  of 
scientific  works,  and  did  not,  of  course,  understand  a 
great  deal  that  was  contained  in  them.  He  came  to  Mr. 
Stevenson  for  information.  After  answering  his  ques- 
tions Mr.  Stevenson  said  :  "  Have  you  read  any  of  our 
religious  books  ?  You  seem  interested  in  foreign  litera- 
ture ? "  He  said  he  had  read  a  little  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  he  thought  very  uninteresting  and  unintel- 
ligible. Mr.  Stevenson  pointed  out  that  a  book  which 
taught  of  spiritual  things  must  be  unintelligible  without 
a  spiritual  mind,  and  told  him  if  he  would  pray  for  the 
help  of  the  Spirit,  the  book  would  become  very  interest- 
ing. The  man  then  ridiculed  prayer.  The  Emperor 
wouldn't  attend  to  him,  or  the  Viceroy.  If  there  was 
such  a  great  God,  He  would  have  something  better  to 
do  than  to  be  listening  to  his  prayers  or  accepting  his 
suggestions.  Mr.  Stevenson  put  a  kettle  on  the  fire,  and 
said  to  him  :  "  You  are  very  clever  at  arguing,  Mr.  Nying. 


MISSIONARY   WORK   IN   CHINA.  253 

I  am  quite  sure  you  could  prove  that  fire  and  water  are 
opposites,  and  that  one  would  destroy  the  other,  and 
that  they  couldn't  possibly  be  commingled.  And  then 
you  might  say  the  fire  was  outside  the  kettle,  and  the 
water  was  inside,  and  the  fire  couldn't  get  through  the 
kettle  into  the  water.  But  all  the  time  the  kettle  would 
be  on  the  fire,  and  when  your  argument  had  reached  a 
triumphant  point,  I  should  say  :  'What  moves  the  lid  of 
the  kettle,  and  makes  the  steam  come  out  of  the  spout? 
The  water  is  boiling.'  So  I  have  proved  the  power  of 
prayer  again  and  again."  He  refused  to  pray  himself. 
Mr.  Stevenson  said  :  "  I  shall  pray  for  you.  I  shall  pray 
that  when  you  go  home  you  will  take  up  that  book  and 
read  it,  and  that  you  will  find  it  has  become  a  new  book 
to  you."  Mr.  Nying  said,  as  he  went  home,  to  himself  : 
"  Well  ;  here's  a  strange  thing.  That  man  whom  we 
call  a  foreign  devil  has  such  faith  in  prayer,  and  such 
interest  in  me,  that  he  will  pray  for  me,  and  he  believes 
that  I  will  find  that  book  a  new  book."  Then  he  deter- 
mined not  to  look  at  it.  Yet,  his  curiosity  got  the  upper 
hand,  and  when  his  wife  went  to  bed  he  went  to  his 
study,  took  the  book  down,  first  looked  at  one  cover 
and  then  the  other,  somewhat  irresolute  ;  and  at  last,  in 
a  spirit  of  scientific  experiment,  uttered  a  few  words  of 
prayer,  something  like  these  :  "  O  God,  if  there  be  a 
God  ;  give  me  light  on  this  book,  if  there  is  any  light 
to  be  given."  Opening  the  book  he  began  to  read,  and 
read  till  midnight,  and  read  through  the  small  hours  of 
the  morning,  and  was  so  riveted  that  he  could  not  put 
it  down  till  a  short  time  before  daylight.  He  went  on 
reading  his  Bible,  and  was  converted,  and  became  a  very 
successful  and  zealous  missionary.  The  mandarin  tried 
to  stop  him,  but  he  said  he  couldn't  help  preaching — his 
heart  was  so  full.     The  mandarin  sent  for  the  head  of 


254  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

the  literati,  or  chancellor  of  the  university  ;  and  he  just 
preached  the  Gospel  to  the  chancellor,  telling  him  he 
couldn't  help  it — he  couldn't  keep  such  good  news  to 
himself. 

One  day  Mr.  Nying  was  out  in  the  streets  preaching 
Christ,  the  mighty  to  save.  He  had  a  crowd  around 
him,  and  he  told  the  people  that  his  Saviour  was  able  to 
save  them  from  their  sins.  Said  he  :  "  Just  come  to  my 
Saviour,  and  He  will  cure  you  of  opium-smoking.  He 
will  take  the  power  of  it  right  out  of  your  nature.  And 
some  of  you  fellows  are  very  fond  of  gambling.  Just 
put  yourself  and  the  gambling  habit  in  the  Master's 
hand.  The  Lord  Jesus  will  cure  you  of  gambling." 
And  so  he  went  through  all  the  popular  vices  of  the 
Chinese.  A  poor  gambler  right  behind  him  stood  listen- 
ing and  trembling  like  an  aspen  leaf.  He  came  around 
to  the  front  and  said  to  the  preacher  :  "  Do  you  know 
me?"  Mr.  Nying  said:  "I  should  like  to  know  who 
doesn't  know  you."  He  was  a  notorious  character  for 
fifty  miles  around — everybody  knew  him.  He  was  the 
terror  of  the  neighborhood,  and  the  mandarins  daren't 
deal  with  him.  Said  he  :  "  Now,  tell  me  the  honest 
truth.  Can  your  Saviour  save  a  man  like  me  ? "  He 
looked  right  into  Mr.  Nying's  eyes  as  he  asked  the  ques- 
tion. Mr.  Nying,  of  course,  joyfully  said  that  Christ 
could  save  him.  The  man  wanted  to  know  when.  Said 
Mr.  Nying  :  "  Come  to  my  Saviour,  and  He  will  save  you 
here,  now  and  forever."  He  did  come.  There  and  then 
he  accepted  Christ.  Then  he  went  to  his  home — about 
ten  miles  from  the  city,  and  drove  away  a  band  of 
vicious  men  and  public  women  who  were  there.  His 
share  of  the  gambling  spoils  that  night  would  have 
been  $50 — equal  to  five  or  six  months'  wages,  say  for  a 
schoolmaster.     He  closed  his  place  that  very  evening, 


MISSIONARY  WORK  IN  CHINA.  255 

and  said  it  shouldn't  be  opened  again  until  it  had  been 
whitewashed  from  end  to  end,  and  then  it  should  be 
opened  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  I  have  preached 
the  Gospel  there  myself. 

When  the  Gospel  reached  the  province  of  Shan-si,  one 
of  the  earliest  converts  was  a  Chinese  scholar,  Mr.  Hsi. 
I  can't  tell  you  the  story  of  his  conversion,  because  it 
would  take  too  much  time  :  it  is  to  be  found  in  his  own 
language  in  "  Days  of  Blessing  in  Inland  China."  Well ; 
Mr.  Hsi  went  home,  and  was  the  means  of  the  conver- 
sion of  his  dear  mother  and  his  wife.  Very  soon  there 
were  about  a  dozen  laborers  brought  to  Christ ;  and  the 
people  of  the  village  took  fright  at  this.  They  said  : 
"  Our  gods  will  be  very  angry,  and  will  send  us  another 
famine  or  pestilence  ;  this  foreign  doctrine  is  affecting 
the  whole  village.  We  must  stamp  it  out  before  it  is 
our  ruin."  And  so  they  adopted  a  policy  that  we  know 
a  good  deal  about  under  the  name  of  boycotting.  They 
said  :  "  Let  no  Christian  get  employment  in  any  way. 
Let  no  shopkeeper  sell  anything  to  a  member  of  a  Chris- 
tian family.  They  can't  live  without  eating,  and  they 
can't  spend  money  without  earning  it,  and  that  will  soon 
put  a  stop  to  this  Christianity."  They  didn't  know  with 
whom  they  were  dealing,  "All  power  is  given  unto 
Me."  The  converts  came  to  Mr.  Hsi  as  their  adviser, 
and  asked  him  what  they  were  to  do.  He  just  looked 
up  for  a  little  while,  as  I  have  often  seen  him  do,  and 
then  began  to  praise  the  Lord.  Said  he  :  "  My  friends, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken  God  has  a  purpose  in  this.  If  you 
go  on  in  the  ordinary  way  you  won't  get  the  people  to 
believe  God  is  doing  anything  for  you.  You  can't  any 
of  you  read.  The  Lord  is  going  to  give  you  a  holiday, 
and  let  you  go  to  school.  Come  to  me  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  or  whatever  hour  you  go  to  work,  and 


256  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELU. 

learn  to  read  the  Bible.  Then  from  noon  until  evening 
you  can  help  me  on  my  farm  and  homestead.  I  shall 
take  out  of  my  granary  whatever  you  need  for  your 
families.  All  I  have  is  God's — my  barns  are  His  barns  ; 
my  corn  is  His  corn — and  when  He  wants  my  corn  for 
His  children,  His  children  ought  to  have  it."  So  day 
by  day  those  fellows  read  the  Bible,  and  when  they 
could  read  a  little  they  were  rather  proud  of  it ;  and 
they  went  into  the  villages  round  about  and  preached 
the  Gospel,  and  then  did  a  little  work  in  the  afternoon. 
Very  soon  in  five  or  six  villages  there  were  little  com- 
panies of  people  worshipping  God.  Thus  began  a  work 
of  village  evangelization  that  is  going  on  to-day.  There 
are  scores  of  villages  that  have  got  village  churches 
which  were  started  in  that  very  way.  Well ;  after  a 
time  the  persecutors  came  together  and  said  :  "  What 
on  earth  are  you  going  to  do  with  people  like  this  ?  We 
thought  we  were  going  to  stamp  out  this  religion  ;  and 
here  we  have  raised  up  a  set  of  preachers,  and  they  are 
going  everywhere."  So  the  boycott  was  removed,  and 
the  men  were  allowed  to  go  back  to  their  usual  work. 
But  they  didn't  stop  preaching.  They  work  on  week- 
days, and  then  hold  Sunday  preaching  services. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

EVANGELIZING    THE    WORLD. 

Extracts  from  Addresses  by  Mr.  Robert  P.  Wilder— Generosity  of 
College  Students — Reflex  Influence  of  Foreign  Work— A  Plea 
for  India — Millions  of  Hindus  Turning,  Whither? — The  Good 
and  the  Best — Reversed  Conditions  Imagined  :  Asia  Christian 
and  Europe  Heathen — How  to  Strengthen  Home  Work. 

After  last  summer's  school  at  Northfield  we  Prince- 
ton boys  thought  that  more  should  be  done  by  us  for 
foreign  missions.  We  said  :  "  Princeton  must  support  a 
missionary."  We  wanted  to  do  what  that  lady  did  who 
worked  twenty-four  hours  of  every  day.  She  was 
asked  how  she  did  it.  The  reply  was  :  "  I  work  twelve 
hours  here,  and  when  I  lay  down  my  work  for  the  night 
I  have  a  representative  in  India  who  works  for  the  next 
twelve  hours."  We  wanted  the  men  in  Princeton  to 
work  twenty-four  hours  daily  by  supporting  a  man  in 
India.  The  plan  was  opposed.  I  find  that  the  students 
of  every  college  think  themselves  worse  off  financially 
than  the  students  of  every  other  college.  The  Prince- 
ton men  said:  "We  cannot  raise  $700  for  the  support 
of  a  missionary.  We  are  giving  only  $80  a  year  for  for- 
eign work,  and  our  association  is  $125  in  debt.  It  is  im- 
possible to  raise  $700."  Well,  the  matter  was  presented, 
and  within  twenty-eight  hours  $1,300  were  pledged  by 
the  undergraduates  of  Princeton  College,  and  now  the 
fund  stands  at  $1,600.  And  within  three  days  after  the 
money  was   pledged  our   representative,  Mr.    Forman, 

(257) 


258  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

sailed  for  India.  My  weak  faith  never  received  a  more 
severe  shock.  Then  the  theological  students  of  Prince- 
ton said:  ''We  must  support  a  foreign  missionary." 
Now,  I  can  testify  that  theological  students  are  not  well 
off  financially,  as  a  rule.  But  those  seminary  students 
pledged  $850,  and  are  sending  a  man  to  China.  The 
Union  Theological  Seminary  adopted  the  plan.  Last 
year  we  Union  students  gave  $480  for  missions.  This 
year  we  have  pledged  $1,130 — nearly  $9  apiece.  But 
the  Xenia  theological  students  have  outdone  us.  The 
subscribers  in  that  seminary  are  giving  $12  apiece  for 
their  missionary.  We  can  give  if  we  wish  to.  One  of 
my  classmates  came  to  Union  seminary,  last  fall,  with 
only  $3  in  his  pocket  and  he  gave  $5,  I  believe,  for  our 
missionary.  [Mr.  Moody  said  :  "  Tell  them  how  he  did 
it."  Ans.:  "He  went  out  and  earned  the  money."]  I 
would  like  to  tell  of  other  institutions,  but  have  not 
time.  ["  Go  on,"  said  Mr.  Moody.]  Well,  the  44  stu- 
dents at  the  Protestant  Episcopal  theological  seminary 
of  Virginia  pledged  $625,  and  five  members  of  the  fac- 
ulty each  pledged  $25  a  year  for  life.  A  member  of  the 
senior  class  was  chosen  and  hopes  to  sail  soon  for  China 
or  Japan  under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  Rutgers  College  and  Sem- 
inary have  united  in  the  support  of  a  man  for  India. 
The  students  of  the  United  Presbyterian  theological  semi- 
nary of  Allegheny,  Pa.,  are  sending  out  Mr.  Martin  as 
seminary  missionary.  I  believe  that  the  time  is  coming 
when  our  larger  colleges  will  support  two  or  three 
alumni  in  foreign  fields,  and  the  smaller  institutions  at 
least  half  a  missionary.  Fellows,  let's  work  twenty-four 
hours  of  each  day. 

Men  are  needed  more  than  money.     Fellows,  why  not 
go  ?     Some  talk  as  if  they  feared  a  general  exodus  of 


EVANGELIZING  THE  WORLD.  2^9 

Christians  out  of  this  country.  There  is  no  immediate 
danger  of  that.  Out  of  every  100,000  communicants  in 
the  United  States  only  twenty-one  go  to  the  foreign 
field.  I  do  not  think  that  this  country  is  suffering  for 
lack  of  Christian  workers.  If  we  count  three  classes  of 
workers — the  lay  preachers,  ordained  preachers,  and 
Sabbath-school  teachers — we  have  in  the  United  States 
an  average  of  one  Christian  worker  to  every  forty-eight 
of  our  population.  We  have  an  average  of  one  com- 
municant to  every  five  of  our  population.  But  the 
quality  is  not  up  to  the  quantity.  "  There  is  nothing  so 
contagious  as  a  good  example."  The  Bishop  of  London, 
the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  and  leading  men  in  this  country 
say  that  the  more  we  do  for  foreign  work  the  better  it  is 
for  home  work.  Stanley  Smith,  the  stroke  of  the  Cam- 
bridge University  crew,  said  :  "It  is  my  earnest  prayer 
that  there  may  be  such  an  outlet  of  men  and  women 
from  this  country  as  shall  lead  to  an  inlet  of  blessing 
from  Heaven."  I  am  offering  this  prayer  for  the  United 
States. 

These  are  the  two  points  I  wish  to  emphasize  :  i.  Home 
work  will  not  suffer  by  reason  of  foreign  missionary  ac- 
tivity. 2.  The  world  can  be  evangelized — not  converted, 
but  evangelized — in  the  present  generation.  One  hun- 
dred and  twenty  missionaries  in  China,  representatives 
of  over  twenty  Protestant  societies,  said  :  "We  want 
China  emancipated  from  the  thraldom  of  sin  in  this  gen- 
eration. It  is  possible.  The  Church  of  God  can  do  it, 
if  she  be  only  faithful  to  her  great  commission."  This 
is  not  the  testimony  of  enthusiasts,  but  of  those  who  are 
face  to  face  with  the  difficulties  and  discouragements, 
who  are  facing  382,000,000  souls.  Fellows,  if  our  lives 
are  consecrated  to  this  work  we  can  set  the  churches  on 
fire.     We  have  our  hands  on  the  lever  that  can,  with 


26o  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

God's  blessing,  turn  the  world  upside  down.  I  do 
not  know  where  I  will  work,  but  God  helping  me  I 
am  going  where  there  are  thousands  and  millions  who 
have  never  heard  the  name  *' Jesus."  I  mean  to  open  the 
throttle  valve  and  steam  out  on  the  main  track  of  the 
greatest  need.  If  the  Lord  wishes  me  on  a  side  track 
He  can  switch  me  off.  But  even  God  cannot  switch  a 
motionless  engine.  Let's  move  out  on  the  main  track  of 
the  greatest  need,  fellows.  God  will  switch  us  off  if  He 
wishes  us  in  a  less  needy  place. 

We  have  heard  the  claims  of  Siam  and  Japan  pre- 
sented. May  I  say  a  few  words  in  behalf  of  India,  where 
I  was  born,  where  my  father  labored  nearly  thirty  years 
and  where  my  mother  and  sister  are  now  working? 
Most  of  the  educated  young  men  of  India  have  lost 
faith  in  their  old  religion.  According  to  the  faith  of 
their  fathers  the  earth  is  flat  and  placed  on  an  elephant, 
the  elephant  on  a  tortoise,  and  the  tortoise  on  nothing. 
How  long  can  they  believe  this  after  Western  science 
comes  in  ?  Western  science  has  cut  down  their  old 
faith  and  left  nothing  in  its  place.  In  the  Madras,  Bom- 
bay and  other  universities  are  thousands  of  young  men 
who  have  lost  faith  in  their  old  religion.  There  are 
3,000  young  men  connected  with  the  Madras  University. 
The  professors  are  almost  to  a  man  infidels.  One  of  the 
leading  educators  in  India  has  spent  twenty-five  years 
in  the  country  doing  all  in  his  powder  to  oppose  Chris- 
tianity. A  strange  confusion  exists  in  India.  Recently, 
the  band  which  led  a  heathen  procession  to  an  idola- 
trous festival  was  playing,  "  Dare  to  be  a  Daniel."  On 
the  streets  of  Madras  you  can  hear  four  kinds  of  preach- 
ing on  the  same  evening.  Here  stands  a  Brahmo 
preacher ;  there  is  a  Christian  catechist ;  yonder  a  Mo- 
hammedan, and   near  him    a  Hindu.     The   people   are 


EVANGELIZING  THE   WORLD.  261 

confused  and  bewildered.  Sir  Bartle  Frere  tells  of  a 
village  which  had  put  away  its  idols.  The  people  were 
quasi-Christians.  No  missionary  had  visited  the  village, 
so  far  as  was  known.  A  merchant  left,  when  dying,  a 
copy  of  a  Gospel  and  a  few  tracts  to  his  servant.  These 
wrought  the  change.  But  the  people  were  as  ignorant 
as  the  eunuch  whom  Philip  met.  They  could  not  fully 
understand  what  they  read,  for  there  was  no  man  to 
guide  them.  (Acts  viii.  30,  31.)  Thirty  Fakirs  were 
found  wandering  along  the  streets  of  a  Hindu  city. 
They  had  Jesus  Christ  as  their  ideal  Fakir  and  the 
seventh  chapter  of  Matthew  on  their  lips.  But  they 
needed  "  some  man  "  to  guide  them.  I  recently  read  of 
a  community  in  the  Saadh,  which  is  neither  Atheistical 
nor  Pantheistical,  neither  Christian  nor  Mohammedan 
nor  Hindu ;  but  more  Christian  than  anything  else. 
They  need  "some  man"  to  guide  them  ere  infidelity 
seizes  hold  of  them.  A  Hindu  prince  has  given  money 
for  the  distribution  of  a  million  tracts  opposed  to  Chris- 
tianity. A  Mohammedan  presented  to  a  press  at  Luck- 
now  $4,000  for  the  publishing  of  Moslem  literature. 
Many  are  now  at  the  turning-point.  They  are  turning 
into  Christianity  or  infidelity.  Remember,  fellows,  that 
the  Hindus  move  in  masses.  Missionaries  toiled  thirty 
years  among  the  Telugus  with  scarcely  any  converts. 
Then  2,222  were  baptized  in  a  single  day,  10,000  in  ninety 
days,  and  now  there  are  among  them  26,000  communicants. 
For  twenty-five  years  the  work  among  the  Shanars  seem- 
ed nearly  fruitless.  Then  100,000  embraced  Christianity. 
More  mass  movements  are  coming.  Shall  they  be  to- 
wards Christianity  or  infidelity  ?  After  the  battle  of  An- 
tietam  it  seemed  that  the  destiny  of  our  Nation  depended 
on  immediate  supplies.  An  eye-witness  describes  the 
supply  train  as  it  came  rushing   through   Harrisburg 


262  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

Up-grade  and  down-grade  it  sped,  regardless  of  brakes. 
Its  wheels  were  like  balls  of  revolving  fire.  One  hundred 
trains  might  have  followed.  But  this  came  just  in  time. 
God  grant  that  the  crisis  in  India  may  be  met  with  im- 
mediate supplies. 

"The good  is  a  great  enemy  of  the  desf."  Let  me  il- 
lustrate this  proverb.  A  young  man  was  surveying 
lands  in  the  oak-Openings  of  Iowa.  A  Christian  sur- 
veyor can  do  good.  But  it  was  not  the  des^  this  man 
could  do.  So  he  ceased  surveying,  went  to  Boston  and 
offered  his  services  to  the  Baptist  Board.  Though  at 
first  rejected,  he  finally  was  accepted  and  sent  to  India, 
to  a  mission  which  was  almost  barren  for  nearly  thirty 
years.  But  God  so  blessed  him  and  his  companions 
that  10,000  were  baptized  in  ninety  days.  I  have  often 
contrasted  Mr.  Clough  the  surveyor  with  Mr.  Clough 
the  missionary.  He  could  have  done  good  if  he  had  re- 
mained in  the  United  States,  but  not  the  desf.  At  a 
meeting  in  Michigan  I  spoke  thus  about  Mr.  Clough. 
When  I  finished  a  Baptist  minister  said  :  "  Some  years 
ago  Mr.  Clough  came  to  me  and  asked  me  to  go  with 
him  to  India.  I  wanted  to  go,  but  did  not  because  I 
was  waiting  for  a  '  call.*  The  need  is  the  '  call.'  "  That 
minister  might  have  been  in  India  helping  Mr.  Clough 
to  reap  that  wonderful  harvest  had  he  not  waited  for  a 
"  call."  Is  there  anything  in  the  Bible  to  show  that  we 
need  more  of  a  "call"  to  take  us  to  India  than  to  Da- 
kota ?  "The  field  is  the  world."  A  man  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  said  :  "  If  that  building  is  on  fire,  and  there  are 
eight  men  up-stairs  perishing  and  one  in  the  cellar — if 
six  are  trying  to  rescue  that  one  man  from  the  cellar 
and  none  helping  the  eight  up  stairs,  where  am  I  called 
to  give  my  assistance  ? "     The  /leed  is  the  ca//. 


EVANGELIZING  THE  WORLD.  263 

A  MISSIONARY  in  India  was  met  by  a  man  who  said  : 
"  I  have  been  north  and  bathed  in  the  Ganges  to  get  rid 
of  my  sins.  I  have  been  to  shrines  in  the  east  and  in 
the  west.  Once  I  was  young — now  I  am  old,  but  the 
burden  of  sin  is  just  as  heavy  as  ever  upon  me.  Can 
you  help  me  ? "  As  I  thought  of  that  man  my  mind 
went  back  to  the  time  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  crossed 
the  bridge  spanning  the  Orontes.  But  instead  of  going 
west  they  go  east.  Methinks  I  see  India  evangelized 
instead  of  Greece,  China  instead  of  Rome,  Asia  instead 
of  Europe.  The  Anglo-Saxons  are  to-day  in  heathen 
darkness.  My  father  goes  from  one  shrine  to  another 
seeking  peace.  He  journeys  to  the  northern  part  of  the 
British  Isles  and  dwells  for  months  under  a  towering 
oak,  with  a  Druid  priest.  When  he  is  dying  he  calls  me 
to  his  side  and  says  :  "  Son,  I  have  been  to  shrines  in 
the  north  ;  I  have  travelled  east  and  west.  Once  I  was 
young,  now  I  am  old.  My  hair  and  my  beard  have 
grown  gray,  but  I  have  not  yet  found  peace.  Can  you 
help  me?"  I  answered,  "No."  My  father  died  and  I 
took  up  the  search.  I  studied  medicine  and  astrology 
trying  to  find  peace.  One  day  I  saw  a  man  who  had 
been  in  the  south  of  France.  He  had  met  a  missionary. 
He  said  that  the  missionary  was  reading  wonderful 
words.  Such  words- 1  never  had  heard.  These  were 
the  words  :  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  "  Sir," 
said  I,  "where  can  I  find  that  missionary?"  He  told 
me. .  Staff  in  hand  I  started,  and  after  two  weeks'  walk- 
ing I  met  him  in  a  village  in  Spain.  Again  he  read 
those  words.  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,"'  etc.  I 
stopped  him.  "Sir,"  said  I;  "how  long  is  it  since 
Christ  died  ?  "    "  Eighteen  hundred  years,"    "  Did  your 


264  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIIFIELD. 

father  know  about  Christ  ?  "  "  Yes."  "  Did  your  grand- 
father know  about  Christ?"  "Yes."  "Well;  why 
didn't  your  father  come  to  tell  my  father,  and  your 
grandfather  to  tell  my  grandfather  ?  "  He  could  not 
answer.  "  My  father  spent  from  childhood  to  old  age 
seeking  peace,  but  he  found  it  not.  Sir,  are  there  many 
people  in  your  land  who  know  about  Christ  ?  "  "  Yes. 
We  have  an  average  of  one  Christian  worker  to  every 
forty-eight  of  our  population.  We  have  an  average  of 
one  church-member  to  every  five  of  our  population." 
"Why  do  they  not  come  and  tell  us  Anglo-Saxons  about 
Christ?"  He  was  speechless.  Then  God  Himself 
spake  :  "  If  thou  forbear  to  deliver  them  that  are  drawn 
unto  death,  and  those  that  are  ready  to  be  slain  ;  if  thou 
sayest,  behold  we  knew  it  not  ;  doth  not  He  that  pon- 
dereth  the  heart  consider  it  ?  And  He  that  keepeth  thy 
soul,  doth  not  He  know  it  ?  And  shall  not  He  render 
to  every  man  according  to  his  works  ?  " 

Are  we  going  forth  fully  consecrated  to  our  Captain  ? 
At  a  prayer-meeting  in  Union  Theological  Seminary  one 
of  my  classmates  went  to  the  blackboard.  He  drew  a  pic- 
ture of  a  man  sitting  in  a  boat.  With  both  hands  he  work- 
ed the  oars  ;  but  no  progress  was  made.  Again  he  rowed 
till  exhausted,  but  the  boat  would  not  move.  At  last  he 
found  a  rope  binding  the  boat  to  the  shore.  Fellows,  are 
we  trying  to  row  thus  ?  Our  boats  may  be  headed  in 
the  right  direction,  our  efforts  may  be  vigorous,  but  is 
there  some  hidden  cord  of  selfishness  that  binds  us  to 
the  shore  ?    Let  us  cut  every  such  cord  with  God's  help. 

May  I  say  a  few  words  to  the  volunteers,  about  100  of 
whom  are  before  me  ?  Do  not  hesitate  to  become  for- 
eign missionaries  because  of  the  needs  of  home  work. 
My  sister  writes  of  a  lady  who  sailed  recently  for  China. 


EVANGELIZING  THE   WORLD.  265 

She  left  England  on  the  same  steamer  on  which  my 
mother  and  sister  sailed.  Along  the  railway  stations, 
between  London  and  Southampton,  railway  men  saluted 
her  and  slipped  notes  of  farewell  into  her  hands.  Why  ? 
Because  she  had  been  the  means  of  the  conversion  of 
hundreds  of  these  men.  No  doubt  many  said  that 
this  lady  was  making  a  mistake  by  leaving  her  work  in 

England  for  China.     But  my  sister  writes,  "  Miss 's 

going  to  foreign  work  has  enlisted  four  ladies  to  take 
up  her  home  work."  I  believe  that  for  every  God-sent 
man  who  leaves  this  country  for  foreign  fields,  four  will 
fill  his  place  at  home.  Dr.  Judson  Smith  recently  said  : 
"  If  young  men  should  rise  in  large  numbers  and  go  to 
the  foreign  field,  there  would  be  such  a  revival  at  home 
that  men  would  flock  into  the  ministry." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

NORTHFIELD     NUGGETS. 

Extracts  from  Addresses  by  Various  Speakers — Partiality  in  Dis- 
pensing the  Bread  of  Life — One  Business  Not  Overcrowded — 
Laying  Aside  Encumbrances — Success  in  Personal  Work — An 
Entire  Delegation  Anointed  for  Service — College  Life  in  Europe 
— Iridescence  of  the  Pearl — Voices  from  Siam  and  Japan. 

Mr.  Reginald  Radcliffe  (of  England)  :  Christ  was 
filled  with  compassion  toward  the  five  thousand.  He 
satisfied  the  hunger  of  those  fainting  ones.  How  much 
greater  are  His  compassions  for  the  millions  on  the  earth 
who  at  present  have  no  chance  of  hearing  His  Gospel, 
from  the  want  of  willing  obedience  of  His  followers  I 
The  disciples  had  only  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  ;  but 
all  that  they  had  they  yielded  up  into  His  hands.  It 
was  not  until  they  gave  up  all  they  had  that  the  Lord 
commenced  to  multiply.  This  little  bread  and  fish — no 
more  than  could  have  been  carried  by  the  boy  with  one 
hand  in  a  little  basket — was  entrusted  to  the  Apostles. 
Their  trust  was  fairly  to  feed  the  whole  multitude. 
Now,  supposing  the  multitude  had  been  seated  in  a 
hundred  rows  of  fifty  each,  making  five  thousand — what 
would  be  thought  of  the  Apostles  taking  bread  and  fish 
to  the  first  eight  rows  ;  and  then  returning  again  and 
giving  a  second  supply  to  the  same  eight  rows  ;  and  a 
third  ;  and  so  continuing  until  the  men  and  women  had 
to  receive  the  food  in  their  laps  ;  and  yet  continuing 
until  they  had  absolutely  piled  the  bread  and  fish  up  tp 
(266) 


NORTHFIELD   NUGGETS.  267 

the  shoulders  of  these  people,  and  over  their  ears,  in 
abundance,  without  giving  a  single  crumb  of  bread  and 
fish  to  the  ninety-two  rows  behind  them  ?  Is  not  that 
what  America  and  Britain  are  now  doing  ?  I  cannot 
speak  for  America,  but  speaking  for  my  own  country  I 
can  say  that  this  unfair  distribution  is  attended  with  a 
blight  at  home.  Taking  the  statistics  of  the  four  major 
British  denominations,  including  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  comparing  them  with  the  increase  of  popula- 
tion—our population,  you  know,  only  doubles  itself 
in  fifty  years,  whilst  yours  doubles  itself  in  twenty- 
five  years — it  is  a  question  with  me  whether  the  figures 
do  not  show  that  we  are  not  even  numerically  hold- 
ing our  own.  If  we  are  thus  disobedient  to  the  great 
command — if  we  thus  fail  in  our  duty  as  trustees — I 
don't  know  how  England  is  to  be  saved.  Jericho's  walls 
fell  with  obedience  ;  but  when  disobedience  entered 
into  the  camp,  the  same  warriors  had  to  flee  before  their 
enemies  issuing  from  Ai,  on  account  of  the  wedge  of 
gold  and  the  Babylonish  garment.  Witness  the  Apostles 
commencing  with  one  little  basket  of  bread  and  fish,  and 
ending  with  each  Apostle  having  a  large  hamper  full  of 
broken  bread  and  fish.  It  is  still  true  that  "  there  is  that 
scattereth  and  yet  increaseth  ;  and  there  is  that  with- 
holdeth  more  than  is  meet,  and  it  tendeth  to  poverty." 
Indeed,  I  don't  know  how  England  is  to  be  saved  unless 
we  be  awakened  to  take  up  Christ's  heathen  as  the  work 
of  our  home  churches.  Mr.  Eugene  Stock,  the  zealous 
Secretary  of  the  Church  of  England  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  says  that  we  have  never  yet  taken  up  the  sub- 
ject of  foreign  missions  as  the  work  of  the  Church,  but  it 
has  only  been  taken  up  as  a  by-work.  A  lady  eminent 
for  years  of  fruitful  Christian  labor  in  Britain,  ponder 
ing  this  statement  of  the  unequal  distribution  of  the 


268  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

loaves  and  fishes,  went  home,  sat  up  until  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  in  face  of  her  years  of  successful 
work,  was  constrained  before  she  went  to  bed  to  devote 
herself  to  the  heathen.  She  is  now  occupying  a  most 
important  sphere  in  China. 

Mr.  D.  W.  McWilliams  (of  Brooklyn)  :  Two  years 
ago  at  Mount  Hermon,  one  Saturday  night,  after  all  the 
other  meetings  were  closed,  in  an  upper  room  sixty  stu- 
dent volunteers  for  foreign  missions  were  gathered. 
Every  man  present  was  asked  to  answer  this  question  : 
"What  led  you  to  pledge  yourself  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary  ? "  That  question  was  answered  by  each 
man  in  one  or  two  sentences.  At  last  one  man  got  up 
and  said  :  "  My  father  was  a  missionary  in  China  for 
twenty  or  thirty  years.  His  health  is  broken.  He  is 
incapable  of  carrying  on  his  work.  I  want  to  fit  myself 
to  take  it  up,  and  take  my  father's  place."  One  of  the 
noblest  secretaries  we  have  in  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  heard  those  words,  and  went  away  say 
ing  to  himself  :  "  Because  of  what  the  little  man  from 
China  said,  I  am  going  down  from  this  place  to  work  a 
hundred  times  harder  than  I  ever  did  before."  This 
last  summer  that  Secretary  v/on  eight  hundred  souls  for 
Christ.  Since  he  caught  the  fire  at  Mount  Hermon  I 
venture  to  say  he  has  won  to  Christ  two  or  three  thou- 
sand souls.  A  gentleman  in  Brooklyn  lately  asked  a 
friend — a  merchant — whether  he  could  find  an  opening 
for  his  son.  Said  the  merchant :  "  Don't  put  him  in  my 
line  of  business.  The  competition  is  terrible.  There  is 
no  place  in  my  line  of  business  for  a  young  man."  He 
went  to  a  second  friend  and  heard  the  same,  and  to  a 
third  and  heard  the  same.  One  after  another  said  : 
"Competition  has  ruined  my  business.  Put  him  in 
some    other,"     The    Master*s    business  is   never  over- 


NORTHFIELD  NUGGETS.  269 

crowded.  But  what  business  in  America  besides  that 
is  not  overcrowded  ?  Young  men,  I  envy  your  oppor- 
tunity. I  wish  I  were  twenty,  instead  of  fifty.  If  I 
were,  there  is  no  secular  business  in  this  world  that 
could  touch  me. 

Mr.  George  B.  Studd  (of  England)  :  "  Therefore 
let  us  also,  seeing  we  are  compassed  about  with  so 
great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  lay  aside  every  weight,  and 
the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run 
with  patience  the  race  which  is  set  before  us,  looking 
unto  Jesus."  Perhaps  some  of  us  came  here  with 
weights.  I  hope  we  will  leave  them  here,  and  go  back 
to  run  the  race  without  the  weights  that  may  have  been 
hindering  us  in  the  past.  All  sorts  of  things  may  be- 
come weights.  And  perhaps  one  of  the  most  serious 
weights  in  a  young  man's  life  is  a  love  of  athletics.  In 
its  right  place,  I  will  admit  as  much  as  any  man  that 
this  is  a  splendid  thing  ;  but — although  it  may  appear 
strange  for  me  to  say  so— it  may  occupy  such  a  place  in 
our  lives  as  to  encumber  us  rather  than  help  us.  Our 
athletics  must  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Too  often  we 
merely  seek  our  own  pleasure,  or  strive  to  obtain  a  po- 
sition at  college.     Whatever  we  do,  let  it  be  done  solely 

as  unto  the  Lord Are  we  "looking  unto  Jesus"? 

Christian  people  are  so  apt  to  lean  on  their  privileges  ! 
And,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  quite  as  dangerous  in 
America  as  in  England — your  organizations  are  so  much 
more  perfect  than  ours  are,  while  the  more  perfect  they 
are,  the  danger  is  increased.  We  are  prone  to  lean  on 
some  Christian  organization,  instead  of  leaning  solely 
and  wholly  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Organizations 
may  be  made  great  helps  to  us  ;  but  they  are  not  helps 
if  they  come  between  us  and  Christ.  May  God  grant 
that  we  may  all  just  lift  our  eyes  above  the  privileges — 


2-JO  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

above  the  glorious  advantages  we  have  had  here,  look- 
ing to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  only  for  our  help 
and  strength.  Then  our  witness  will  be  faithful — our 
testimony  will  be  true. 

Mr.  J.  C.  B.  Geddes  (of  Edinburgh):  One  thing  that 
we  have  learned  at  home  is  :  This  work  succeeds  in  pro- 
portion as  there  are  men  who  are  taking  it  up — taking 
up  the  responsibility  of  it — privately.  Of  course,  we  all 
feel  the  advantage  of  united  work.  We  have  many  op- 
portunities of  meeting  together  and  working  together 
But  still,  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  the  great  mass 
of  the  work  of  converting  our  fellow-students  has  been 
private  work — I  might  almost  say  lonely  work.  True, 
we  compare  notes.  If  you  are  interested  in  a  man,  one 
of  the  first  things  you  do  is  to  introduce  him  to  some 
friend.  Still,  my  point  remains — that  this  work  has 
been  successful  in  Edinburgh  just  in  proportion  as  there 
were  many  men  who  would  take  the  trouble  to  think 
and  scheme  and  pray  in  private  for  any  particular  men 
in  whom  they  were  interested.  Another  thing  is  this  : 
We  have  learned,  I  think,  in  our  University  work  that  it 
is  very  important  to  respect  the  individuality  of  the  men 
we  are  trying  to  help.  The  Bible  is  very  clear  upon  this 
point.  We  are  to  work  out  our  own  salvation  — not  any- 
body else's  salvation.  Salvation  is  a  tremendously  per- 
sonal thing.  We  all  have  our  own  characters,  our  own 
temptations,  the  things  that  move  us  personally.  If  we 
are  to  be  successful  in  reaching  a  thoughtful  class  like 
students,  we  must  respect  these  things,  and  study  them. 
It  takes  a  long  time  to  find  out  what  will  move  some 
men.  I  don't  know  what  it  is — it  seems  to  me  that  you 
men  here  are  more  frank  than  we  are  in  Scotland. 
Some  men  in  Scotland  live  deep,  secret  lives.  It  takes  a 
long  time  sometimes  to  find  out  what  will  best  influence 


NORTHFIELD  NUGGETS.  2jl 

a  man,  and  what  is  most  likely  to  encourage  him  and 
draw  him  to  Christ.  There  is  just  one  other  thing,  and 
that  is  the  importance  of  personal  consecration  in  the 
men  who  take  up  this  work.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that 
you  are  always  to  be  on  your  knees,  and  always  to  be 
singing  hymns  and  attending  lectures  on  religion,  and 
so  on.  These  things  are  immensely  valuable,  and  they 
have  their  own  place  in  a  man's  life.  But  really,  when 
we  come  to  think  of  it,  the  most  important  part  of  our 
life  is  the  life  that  we  live  when  we  are  alone.  I  don't 
mean  bodily  alone,  but  alone  in  our  own  minds— alone 
before  God.  As  a  man  lives  in  that  lonely  life,  so  he 
will  influence  his  fellow-men  and  the  generation  in  which 
he  is  born.  Consecration  is  a  very  wide  and  great 
thing.  It  takes  you  into  times  of  your  life  when  there 
is  scarcely  anything  to  remind  you  of  Christ  at  all.  It 
is  terrible  to  feel  that  we  may  lose  our  influence  over 
others  by  coming  short  in  times  when  we  are  most  apt 
to  forget  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  serve. 

Mr.  a.  a.  Stagg  (of  Yale)  :  Last  Friday  night  Mr. 
Moody  came  over  to  see  the  Yale  delegation  at  Hillside 
Cottage.  He  spoke  to  us  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
prayed  with  us  ;  and  asked  us  if  we  would  like  to  be 
filled  with  the  Spirit  ?  Man  by  man  we  said  we  would. 
We  knelt  on  our  knees,  and  prayed  to  God  that  He  would 
give  us  this  power.  We  feel  that  we  have  received  it. 
We  are  going  back  to  Yale,  and  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
God  we  intend  to  do  a  work  there  that  will  tell  for  the 
Master  and  in  the  Judgment  Day.  We  don't  know,  many 
of  us,  why  we  came  up  here.  Various  were  our  objects, 
various  our  purposes.  But  we  are  here,  and  w^e  have  re- 
ceived a  blessing.  What  are  we  going  to  do  ?  We  are 
going  back  to  Yale  a  band  of  men  consecrated  to  the 
Lord.  To-night,  an  hour  ago,  we  knelt  together,  and  man 


272  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

by  man  we  pledged  ourselves  to  do  personal  work  next 
year.  We  pledged  ourselves  to  study  up  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures this  summer,  and  to  do  work  this  summer  ;  that 
the  fire  that  is  within  us  may  not  burn  out,  and  that 
when  we  get  back  to  college  we  shall  be  ready  to  meet 
the  enemy  and  to  fight  him  on  his  own  ground.  We 
feel  that  we  have  a  great  work  there  in  Yale  to  do. 
It  is  different  from  being  here  living  in  a  holy  atmos- 
phere ;  but  we  feel  that  God  is  on  our  side,  and  with 
Him  on  our  side  we  have  nothing  to  fear.  We  pledge  our- 
selves as  a  band  to  pray  all  summer  long  for  the  blessing 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  us  and  upon  Yale,  and  we 
know  that  we  shall  have  that  blessing.  We  trust  that 
henceforth  we  shall  not  sing  as  we  usually  do,  with  the 
emphasis  on  the  "Yale":  "For  God,  for  country,  and 
for  YaW;  but  we  shall  sing:  "For  God,  for  country, 
and  for  Yale." 

Mr.  W.  R.  Nepveu  (of  Holland)  :  I  would  like  to 
speak  a  few  words  about  our  college  at  Utrecht.  Amer- 
ican students  have  a  great  many  privileges  that  we  have 
not.  During  the  short  time  I  have  been  here  I  have 
noticed  that  in  America  there  are  Christian  presidents 
of  colleges,  and  Christian  professors  ;  that  there  is  a 
college  service  every  morning,  and  that  a  Christian 
influence  prevails.  As  to  these  things  I  am  sorry  to 
say  we  have  not  all  of  them.  We  have  every  kind  of 
people  in  our  University,  and  they  are  not  very  much 
bound  together.  I  must  say  in  the  department  to  which 
I  belong  there  is  a  set  of  young  men  who  are  living  a 
life  of  pleasure — who  only  study  a  little  bit  and  don't 
think  of  their  spiritual  life  at  all.  And  now,  it  is  per- 
haps in  our  people,  but  those  of  us  who  are  religious 
don't  come  out  for  Christ  as  I  have  seen  in  these  days 
is  the  American  way  ;  but  we  keep  it  to  ourselves.     In 


NORTHFIELD   NUGGETS.  2/3 

the  last  year  I  have  been  at  college  I  have  seen  very- 
much  that  displeased  me,  and  I  am  afraid  I  have  not 
come  out  for  Christ  myself  enough.  But  I  thank  God 
that  I  have  seen  in  this  convention  that  there  is  a  way 
to  reach  men.  I  have  learned  very  many  precious  les- 
sons here,  which  I  hope  to  adopt  in  the  college.  There 
is  one  thing  I  would  like  to  say  still,  and  that  is  :  we 
want  more  unity  in  our  colleges — between  the  old  coun- 
try and  the  new — and  to  be  more  one  in  heart.  I  am 
very,  very  glad  to  hear  Mr.  Ober  say  that  next  year 
there  will  be  a  deputation  coming  over  from  this  coun- 
try to  visit  our  colleges.  I  think  that  is  very  much 
needed.  We  have  been  greatly  impressed — I  speak  in 
the  name  of  those  who  have  come  over  from  England 
and  Scotland — we  have  been  very  much  interested  in  the 
great  friendship  there  is  among  the  colleges  here  in 
America,  and  we  would  very  much  like  to  have  that  in 
our  country.  I  hope  that  you  will  pray  for  the  colleges 
and  universities  of  my  country  and  of  the  whole  of 
Europe,  and  especially  for  the  University  of  Utrecht. 

Mr.  Norman  H.  Smith  :  Many  remarkable  discoveries 
have  recently  been  made  as  to  the  nature  of  pearls. 
Among  other  things  brought  out  in  a  paper  recently 
read  on  this  subject  before  the  Royal  Society  in  London 
was  the  fact  that  pearls  increase  in  beauty,  radiancy,  and 
value  by  exposure  to  the  sun's  light.  As  an  example  of 
this  we  are  told  that  quite  recently  a  pearl  was  bought 
by  a  specialist  for  the  sum  of  ;^90o.  This  man,  know- 
ing the  secret  of  the  pearl,  carefully  exposed  it  to  the 
sunshine  and  with  such  good  results  that  in  a  month  or 
two  he  found  the  value  and  brilliance  of  that  pearl  so 
much  increased  that  he  sold  it  for  ;£"i,5oo.  Yes,  but  the 
second  man  also  treated  it  in  a  similar  way,  with  the  re- 
sult that  in  a  very  short  time  he  was  able  in  his  turn  to 


274  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

sell  the  pearl  once  more,  and  this  time  the  price  was 
^2,000.  The  soul  of  the  individual  man  is  a  pearl  of 
great  price,  and  precious  in  the  eyes  of  God  ;  but  what 
a  lesson  we  have  here  as  to  the  increased  value  that 
comes  from  exposure  to  that  Sun  of  righteousness, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  endeavor  by  the  help  of 
God's  grace  to  get  rid  of  all  that  clogs  and  hinders  our 
spiritual  life,  and  let  our  souls  come  immediately  into 
contact  with  the  rays  of  that  Divine  sun,  and  so  shall 
they  grow  in  radiance  and  in  beauty,  in  brilliance  and 
in  value,  both  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  of  our  fellow-men, 
until  we  arrive  at  the  stature  of  the  manhood  of  Christ, 
fully  developed  in  body,  soul,  and  spirit  as  Christ  would 
have  us  to  be. 

Boon  Itt  (of  Siam) :  What  have  missions  given  to  the 
world,  or  given  unto  us  ?  I  desire  to  take  as  an  illustration 
my  country.  It  is  a  little  bit  of  a  country  ;  but  yet 
what  applies  to  Siam  is  true  of  all.  I  will  only  mention 
two  or  three  things  :  the  contribution  to  science,  educa- 
tion, and  commerce.  If  I  were  to  mention  what  Siam 
has  contributed  to  science,  you  would  laugh  ;  but  we 
all  know  that  a  bit  of  grass  or  herb  of  any  kind  that  is 
strange  and  new  is  invaluable  to  the  scientific  world, 
and  I  know  from  personal  experience  what  Siam  has 
furnished.  In  the  educational  line,  our  people,  before 
the  missionaries  went  there,  wxre  under  the  control  of 
the  priests.  The  learning  was  under  them,  and  we  had 
to  take  just  what  they  gave.  The  precepts  and  the 
morals  of  Buddha  were  handed  down  and  given  by 
those  priests.  We  were  ridden  by  the  priests.  But 
when  the  missionaries  came  there,  schools  were  founded 
for  both  sexes  ;  and  the  young  king  has  seen  the  good 
of  that,  and  he  has  established  schools  and  then  a  little 
king's  college.     Then,  the  third  and  last  thing  I  want 


NORTHFIELD   NUGGETS.  275 

to  speak  about  is  commerce.  See  what  Siam  has  re- 
ceived. By  the  missionaries  commerce  has  been  opened, 
and  last  year  we  see  from  the  reports  that  commerce, 
even  in  rice  alone,  has  increased.  You  may  say  this  is 
not  the  result  of  missionary  work.  Let  me  quote  to 
you  what  the  ex-regent  of  Siam  said.  He  said  :  "  Siam 
has  not  been  disciplined  by  English  and  French  guns  ; 
but  the  country  has  been  opened  by  missionaries."  So 
we  owe  everything — our  education,  a  higher  ideal  of 
life,  and  a  purer  standard  of  morality — we  owe  all  as 
the  direct  result  of  the  missionaries'  work.  Is  not  that 
some  good  ?  But  all  this  is  nothing  in  comparison  with 
one  single  convert.  I  don't  bring  this  up,  because  the 
act  at  which  the  Trinity  and  the  holy  angels  rejoice — 
that  is,  the  conversion  of  one  sinner — is  beyond  our  com- 
parison. We  have  nothing  on  earth  that  compares  with 
it.  That  is  the  reason  I  have  left  it  out.  I  would  like 
to  say  here  that  what  we  often  call  the  command  of 
Christ  is  more  than  a  command.  In  one  sense  it  is  a 
command,  but  to  me  it  is  more  of  a  privilege.  You 
know  when  Christ  was  on  earth  He  said — or  rather  by 
his  life  He  showed  what  is  in  the  first  part  of  the  prayer 
He  has  taught  us  :  "  Our  Father."  When  we  say  "our," 
we  mean  that  all  are  brothers,  whether  they  be  Christian 
or  be  heathen.  So  to  God's  children  the  difference  be- 
tween the  Christian  man  and  the  heathen  is  :  One  is 
travelling  home  to  God,  and  the  other  is  not.  But 
whether  they  are  travelling  home  or  not,  they  are  God's 
children.  The  prodigal  was  just  as  much  his  father's 
son  when  he  was  away  among  the  swine  as  when  he  was 
at  home.  When  Christ  was  on  earth  He  told  the  people 
that  they  were  God's  children  ;  and  His  life-work  was 
to  lead  them  back  to  God,  their  Father.  But  He  told  us 
when  He  was  going  away  :  "  Since  you  have  known  the 


276  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT   NORTHFIELD. 

way,  I  leave  this  work  for  you  to  do — to  share  in  the  high- 
est work  that  I  have  been  doing.  Go  and  tell  everyone 
of  your  brothers  that  you  meet — tell  them  all  that  they 
are  God's  children,  and  that  they  are  on  the  wrong  wa}-. 
Point  them  to  the  way.  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and 
the  Life.  Bring  them  to  their  God  and  their  loving 
Father,  who  is  awaiting  them."  Is  not  that  a  privilege  ? 
I  rejoice  in  the  privilege  ;  and  I  feel  very  grateful  and 
thankful  to  think  that,  oh  !  such  grand  work  can  be 
given  to  a  weak  human  being.  Oh,  to  share  in  the 
glory  and  the  honor  of  that  is  so  great !  See  what  God 
has  done  by  sending  those  who  were  not  what  you 
wanted  at  home  away  to  foreign  missions.  I  ask  you  as 
college  young  men,  is  that  square  dealing  with  God  ? 
What  you  don't  want  you  send  off.  Is  that  square  deal- 
ing ?  Look  at  the  Apostles.  Paul  undoubtedly  was  the 
most  educated  and  the  most  refined  of  all  ;  and  yet  he 
was  sent  to  the  heathen.  Why  should  the  best  men  go  ? 
Because  it  takes  a  man  with  a  good  mind  and  good  un- 
derstanding and  a  big  head  to  teach  the  heathen.  Let 
me  say  that  you  find  no  mean  foe  in  the  Eastern  world 
to  cope  with.  Now,  the  question  comes  naturally.  Who 
will  go  ?  The  nations  have  been  progressing  since  they 
have  come  under  the  influence  of  the  missionaries,  and 
they  are  always  on  the  moving-forward  line.  They  want 
something  that  is  ahead  of  them  to  show  them  the  way, 
and  we  want  the  young  men. 

Kawamoto  (of  Japan)  :  I  stand  here  to  speak  of  the 
most  interesting  mission  field — your  nearest  neighbor 
across  the  Pacific,  beyond  the  setting  sun.  You  have 
often  heard  what  a  grand  opening  there  is  for  the  mis- 
sion workers,  and  for  the  Christian  teachers.  You  have 
often  heard  what  a  grand  progress  Japan  has  made  in 
these  latter  years.     Therefore  I  think  it  is  almost  need- 


NORTHFIELD   NUGGETS.  2/7 

less  for  me  to  add  any  more  words.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  there  was  not  a  professing  Christian  in  Japan  ;  but 
to-day  there  are  many  thousands  of  native  Christians 
in  that  land  working  harmoniously  for  the  common 
cause  of  Christ.  It  was  but  a  few  weeks  ago  when  two 
great  bodies  of  this  Christian  country  were  assembled 
in  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love  to  celebrate  their  centen- 
nial. I  watched  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  con- 
cerning the  union  of  the  Southern  and  the  Northern 
Presbyterian  Churches.  In  Japan  we  are  making  more 
rapid  progress  toward  organic  union.  It  is  now  pro- 
posed that  all  the  Christian  Churches  shall  form  one 
Japanese  Church  of  Christ.  In  these  latter  days  mar- 
vellous changes  have  come  in  the  thinking  of  the  people, 
and  their  general  feelings  toward  Christianity.  About 
seven  years  ago  there  were  constant  persecutions  against 
the  Christian  people  not  far  from  my  native  town.  But 
to-day,  if  you  will  visit  that  beautiful  country,  you  will 
find  that  the  stones  which  were  thrown  by  the  people 
against  the  Christians  have  been  placed  in  the  corner- 
stone of  their  church.  This  is  not  the  only  way  in 
which  Christians  are  working  and  Christianity  is  pro- 
gressing in  Japan.  The  skepticisms  which  have  taken 
hold  of  the  educated  men  are  losing  their  influence.  A 
great  many  people  who  take  no  satisfaction  in  the  old 
religion  are  seeking  comfort  in  the  truth  which  the  re- 
ligion of  Christ  alone  conveys.  And  there  is  a  constant 
cry  which  will  come  to  you.  I  myself,  representing 
millions  of  human  souls,  ask  you  to  hear  that  Mace- 
donian cry  which  is  coming  from  that  island  across  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  This  is  not  only  the  call  of  human  souls 
— it  is  not  only  the  call  of  millions  of  Japanese  ;  but 
the  Master  of  the  harvest  is  calling  to  you.  The  field 
is  white.     Who  will  go  ?     Will  you,  my  fellow-students. 


2/8  ■        COLLEGE    STUDENTS   AT   NORTHFIELD. 

respond  to  this  call  from  God,  and  these  appeals  from 
the  people  ?  Will  you  answer:  "  Here  am  I.  Send  me  ! 
Send  me  !  "  Since  I  have  been  on  this  consecrated  soil 
of  Northfield,  I  have  often  been  asked  whether  Japan 
will  be  evangelized  in  our  lifetime.  I  answer  that, 
without  doubt,  if  American  churches  and  the  churches 
in  Great  Britain  are  active  enough,  Japan  will  be  Chris- 
tianized in  this  present  century  ;  and,  as  a  returned 
missionary  from  China  once  said,  Japan  is  the  key  to 
China. 

Dr.  J.  Hudson  Taylor  :  A  very  beautiful  thought 
was  given  us  by  Professor  Charteris  at  a  united  com- 
munion service  at  the  close  of  Professor  Drummond's 
series  of  meetings  with  the  Edinburgh  University  men. 
Some  seven  hundred  were  present,  and  the  service  was 
very  impressive.  I  wish  I  could  give  you  the  thought 
of  Professor  Charteris  in  his  own  words  ;  but  while  I 
cannot  do  this,  it  is  so  beautiful  in  itself  that  you  will 
value  it  though  divested  of  the  beauty  of  its  dress.  He 
remarked  that  there  had  been  one  life  on  earth  in  which 
there  was  progressive  development  from  the  cradle  to 
the  Cross,  but  one  only  ;  and  that  it  appeared  to  him 
that  a  true  Christian  life  was  the  life  of  Christ  looking 
backwards-way.  Beginning  with  the  Cross,  we  receive 
cleansing  through  the  precious  blood  and  regenerative 
life  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  then,  going  on 
from  the  Cross  backwards  to  the  cradle,  there  should 
be  a  progressive  growth  of  the  child-like  spirit  that  will 
end  by  leaving  us  trusting  all  our  weight  in  the  Ever- 
lasting Arms  as  a  child  reposes  in  the  arms  of  its 
mother. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"what  hath  god  wrought?" 

Utility  of  the  Summer  Schools — Glimpses  of  Good  Accomplished — 
How  a  Man  from  Oberlin  was  Transformed — A  Reformation  at 
Cornell — Privilege  and  Responsibility — Moral  Beauty  —  The 
Whole  World  Akin— Pioneering  in  Heathen  Lands — Heavenly 
Citizenship. 

Testimonies  to  the  power  of  the  two  previous  gather- 
ings were  given  at  one  of  the  opening  meetings  of  the 
Conference.  Two  of  these  may  here  be  reproduced  : 
one  illustrating  the  fruits  of  the  Summer  School  at 
Northfield  in  1887,  and  the  other  with  reference  to  the 
consequences  of  the  Mount  Hermon  assembly  in  1886. 

Prof.  E.  F.  BoswoRTH,  of  Oberlin,  said  :  I  suppose  we 
all  of  us  dread  to  undertake  any  new  enterprise  unless 
we  are  confident  that  God  is  in  it — unless  we  are  confi- 
dent that  it  is  something  that  God  wants  done.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  meeting  we  need  to  reinforce  our  zeal 
with  the  thought  that  we  are  here  to  engage  in  an  en- 
terprise that  God  blesses.  I  suppose  we  all  know  the 
great  blessing  that  has  flowed  out  from  these  meetings 
in  the  past.  There  comes  especially  to  my  mind  just 
now  a  little  piece  of  blessing  which  fell  under  my  own 
observation — an  influence  for  good  which  came  from 
this  meeting  upon  one  life.  I  knew  a  young  man — a 
professing  Christian — who  was  quite  apathetic,  or  at 
least  inactive.     He  never  took  part  in  a  prayer-meeting. 

(279) 


28o  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

He  seemed  to  be  one  of  those  who  never  could  do  any- 
Christian  work.  He  attended*  this  meeting  last  Sum- 
mer. When  he  came  back  to  the  college  last  Fall  he  was 
a  transformed  man— a  changed  man.  He  was  ready  to 
work,  and  ready  to  ask  others  to  work  with  him.  His 
example  has  been  such  a  blessing  that  we  have  here 
now  twenty-nine  men  from  that  same  institution.  That 
young  life  has  been  wholly  changed,  in  these  ways  : 
In  the  first  place,  some  new  truth  from  God's  Word  has 
been  understood  better  than  it  was  before  ;  and  in  the 
next  place,  that  new  truth  has  been  instantly  responded 
to  and  put  into  practice.  Now,  there  are  two  very  dif- 
ferent things  :  One  of  them  is  to  understand  a  little 
about  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ — a  little  about  His 
great  sacrifice  ;  but  it  is  an  utterly  different  thing  to  live 
that  truth — to  make  living  sacrifices — to  die  daily,  as 
Paul  says.  First,  understand  the  truth  ;  next,  live  the 
truth.  If  a  man  will  do  this  he  is  a  changed  man.  It  is 
one  thing  for  a  man  to  get  intellectually  before  his 
mind  the  intense  devotion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  will  of 
God  His  Father — toiling  day  after  day  in  country  towns 
and  villages — so  anxious  to  do  the  will  of  God  that 
when  tired  and  hungry  He  stood  by  the  well-side  and 
preached  to  one  soul,  forgetting  that  He  was  tired  and 
hungry,  and  telling  His  disciples  that  His  meat  was 
to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Him — it  is  one  thing  to 
know  that  truth  intellectually  :  it  is  another  thing  to 
have  the  life  transformed — to  take  the  printed  truth  and 
make  it  living  truth.  Our  friend  did  this,  and  that  is 
exactly  why  he  got  his  blessing.  He  came  face  to  face 
with  two  or  three  truths  that  he  didn't  know  were  in 
the  Word  of  God,  and  then  he  made  his  life  conform  to 
them.  There  was  an  instantaneous  response  to  those 
truths,  and  he  began  to  live  them.     Now,  it  seems  to 


**WHAT   HATH   GOD   WROUGHT?"  28 1 

me  that  a  very  practical  question  to  every  one  of  us  is  : 
How  are  we  going  to  get  such  a  blessing  out  of  this 
meeting?  And  the  answer  is  :  By  accepting  the  truths 
we  hear  and  beginning  to  live  them.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  great  principle  of  Christian  living  as  we  find  it  in 
Paul's  letters  to  the  Corinthians  and  Romans — a  de- 
termination on  the  part  of  a  man  to  put  out  of  his  life 
everything,  if  only  by  that  means  he  may  increase  his 
influence  over  somebody  else.  That  is  the  great  prin- 
ciple which  controlled  Paul's  life.  If  we  get  face  to 
face  with  that  principle,  and  accept  it,  and  respond  to 
it,  we  will  get  a  blessing.  I  have  been  impressed  with 
one  word  Paul  used  in  his  second  Epistle  to  the  Thes- 
salonians.  Writing  to  his  friends,  and  feeling  the  need 
of  their  prayers,  he  said  :  "  Pray  for  us,  brethren,  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course,  and  be 
glorified."  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  open  our  hearts. 
Never  let  any  truth  be  obstructed  by  any  failure  to  ap- 
propriate it  instantly.  Let  us  just  open  our  hearts  to 
the  truth  and  give  it  free  course  ;  and  then — we  won't  be 
glorified,  but  -God  will  be.  When  a  man  not  only  re- 
ceives the  truth,  but  knows  it,  and  begins  to  live  it,  then 
he  begins  to  have  power.  It  seems  to  me  we  make  a  great 
mistake  sometimes  in  praying  for  power.  We  desire  to  be 
powerful,  and  we  pray  for  power,  perhaps,  in  the  wrong 
way.  Now,  power  isn't  given  to  people  except  for  a 
special  purpose.  In  Christian  service  it  is  given  to  help 
us  to  wield  a  weapon.  Here  is  the  weapon — the  Word 
of  God.  "  The  word  of  God  is  quick,  and  powerful,  and 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword."  Take  hold  of  that 
sword  with  a  firm  grip,  and  pray  for  God  to  use  it,  and 
I  think  the  power  will  come.  Get  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  hand,  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
heart,  and  then  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  is  in  the  Spirit's 


282  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NORTIlflELD. 

own  hand.  Let  us  pray  one  and  all  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  may  thus  have  free  course  in  our  hearts,  morning, 
noon,  and  night.  When  we  look  into  the  Word  of  God, 
let  it  be  not  idly,  or  in  a  spirit  of  mere  curiosity;  but 
let  it  be  to  find  some  truth  which  we  may  instantaneous- 
ly do,  and  then  the  Word  of  God  will  be  glorified  in  our 
transformed  lives. 

Mr.  J.  R.  MoTT,  of  Cornell,  said  :  1  like  the  example 
given  me  by  the  last  speaker,  and  I  will  follow  that  ex- 
ample by  telling  you  of  work  done  in  my  own  college 
as  a  direct  result  of  these  Summer  Schools.  I  think 
these  Summer  Schools  do  three  things  :  first,  they  give 
to  every  man  himself  a  great  spiritual  uplift.  In  the 
next  place,  they  bring  home  to  every  man  that  he  is  his 
brother's  keeper — that  when  he  goes  back  to  his  college 
he  is,  in  a  great  measure,  responsible  for  the  salvation 
of  his  room-mate.  In  the  third  place,  they  give  a  man  a 
proper  conception  of  the  great  movement  among  young 
men  in  this  country  and  in  the  world.  As  you  study  the 
work  of  the  colleges  since  the  convening  of  these  Con- 
ferences, I  think  these  points  will  become  clearer  and 
clearer.  Cornell  has  been  no  exception.  I  speak  here 
in  no  sense  of  praise  to  any  individual.  We  give  God 
the  praise,  for  the  work  cannot  be  traced  to  any  man. 
Only  a  few  years  ago  Cornell  was  shunned  by  the  religi- 
ous people  of  the  country  in  a  great  degree.  The  change 
has  been  marvellous.  Only  150  students  were  recognized 
as  Christians  two  years  ago — men  who  had  the  courage 
to  stand  out  for  Jesus  Christ  in  any  kind  of  Christian 
work.  We  sent  ten  men  that  year  to  Mount  Hermon. 
These  men  received  this  spiritual  impulse,  every  man  of 
them,  and  learned  of  new  methods  of  work.  They  went 
back  to  college,  and  within  one  year  the  number  of  pro- 
nounced Christians  had  increased  from  150  to  300,  and 


"WHAT   HATH    GOD   WROUGHT?"  283 

this  number  within  the  last  year  has  grown  to  over  400. 
Not  only  that,  but  there  has  been  a  line  of  Bible  study 
carried  on  actively  bearing  on  personal  work.  Of  course 
we  feel  that  this  is  far  short  of  what  it  should  be  ;  but 
yet  it  is  a  great  thing  gained  to  have  the  Bible  made 
prominent  there.  And  the  first  converts  have  been  tak- 
ing steps  as  a  direct  result  of  this  meeting  to  introduce 
the  evangelistic  methods  that  were  derived  here.  More- 
over, missionaries  have  been  raised  up  for  the  foreign 
field.  Those  ten  men  that  were  sent  here  to  Mount  Her- 
mon  came  back  so  full  of  the  missionary  spirit  that  our 
band  of  volunteers  increased,  till  last  year  the  number 
was  thirty.  Ought  we  not  to  say,  "  God  has  helped  us 
hitherto  "  ?  I  went  over  to  Mount  Hermon  yesterday. 
My  heart  fairly  burned  within  me.  I  couldn't  help  but 
think  how  we  went  from  that  mount,  and  what  had  taken 
place  since.  I  saw  the  hill  and  valley  where  the  little 
band  went  out  in  the  afternoon  and  in  their  consecration 
conceived  the  idea  of  this  great  missionary  movement, 
which  I  believe  will  stand  higher  in  the  annals  of  the 
Christian  Church  than  any  other  similar  movement  up 
to  date.  I  remembered  seeing  representatives  of  one 
State  in  prayer  for  the  work  in  that  State;  and  I  thought 
how  successful  they  had  been,  so  that  the  buildings  and 
the  appliances  are  more  extensive  and  the  work  in  many 
ways  is  far  greater  than  it  has  ever  been  before.  I  re- 
membered seeing  delegations  in  prayer  by  themselves. 
There  was  a  Southern  man  at  the  Conference  with  whom 
I  became  acquainted,  and  I  saw  the  place  in  the  woods 
where  I  united  with  him  in  a  prayer  of  consecration.  I 
couldn't  help  but  feel  that  I  was  again  on  holy  ground. 
And  as  I  thought  what  had  resulted  from  those  influ- 
ences, little  as  they  seemed  to  me  then,  but  immeasurably 
great  as  they  appear  when  we  think  of  what  has  taken 


284  COLLEGE   STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

place  within  two  years,  the  question  came  :  Ought  there 
not  to  go  out  from  this  Conference  now  even  greater 
and  more  blessed  influences?  God  has  brought  us  up 
here  to  form  a  link  in  a  great  chain  of  influences.  I 
couldn't  help  but  ask  what  were  the  influences  at  Mount 
Hermon  ?  and  I  thought  the  same  influences  must  domi- 
nate here.  If  this  Conference  is  to  be  characterized  by 
the  same  power,  we  must  place  ourselves  in  the  same 
conditions.  What  was  the  pre-eminent  condition  ?  It 
was  doing  one  thing.  And  what  was  that  one  thing  then, 
and  what  ought  it  to  be  to-day  ?  It  was  personal  conse- 
cration. You  have  no  idea  how  much  praying  was  done 
at  that  Conference.  I  don't  know  how  much  there  was 
at  Northfield  last  year — I  wasn't  here  ;  but  at  Mount 
Hermon  delegations  would  pray  together,  and  often 
single  men  would  go  out  among  the  trees  and  fight  the 
battle  with  themselves — getting  to  the  end  of  self  in 
their  hearts.  I  believe  if  we  would  get  power  we  must 
do  the  same  thing.  We  must  have  delegations  in  prayer 
in  these  tents.  We  must  unite  upon  one  thing  :  to  have 
a  victory  in  our  own  hearts.  Then  we  will  go  back  with 
power  ;  and  then,  I  think,  we  will  say  that  this  Confer- 
ence has  been  characterized  by  greater  results  than  that 
which  took  place  at  Mount  Hermon  two  years  ago. 


At  the  final  meeting  of  the  Conference  about  twenty 
five-minute  addresses  were  delivered.  Extracts  from 
some  of  these  are  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Fur- 
ther extracts  may  here  be  made  : 

Mr.  S.  M.  Sayford,  of  Massachusetts,  said  :  A  sec- 
retary of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
once  at  the  front  of  an  evangelical  French  church  in 


"WHAT   HATH   GOD   WROUGHT?"  285 

Boston,  when  a  Frenchman  came  up  evidently  looking 
for  that  church,  but  not  sure  that  it  was  the  right  place. 
He  couldn't  speak  English,  but  managed  to  make  his  in- 
quiry understood.  The  secretary  pointed  to  the  name 
on  the  building.  So  overjoyed  was  the  Frenchman  to 
find  that  he  was  at  the  desired  spot,  that  he  just  stood 
on  the  threshold  of  the  door,  looked  up  into  the  face  of 
the  secretary,  and  said  :  "  You— me — Christ — brother." 
I  have  looked  into  the  faces  of  the  men  here  from  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge  and  Edinburgh,  from  China  and 
Japan  and  Turkey.  I  have  looked  into  the  faces  of  rep- 
resentatives of  nearly  all  the  American  colleges.  I  don't 
know  these  men  ;  but  I  can  look  into  your  faces  and 
turn  my  face  Godward,  and  say  :  "  You — me — Christ — 
brethren."  We  have  been  here  in  these  days  of  privilege 
— and  such  privilege  !  But  I  beg  you  to  remember  that 
responsibility  is  always  linked  with  privilege.  We  have 
been  talking  a  great  deal  about  what  we  are  to  do  for 
other  men.  I  beg  you  to  remember  that  we  must  all 
build  ourselves  up  first,  if  we  would  be  successful  with 
others.  Turn  to  Jude  20  :  "  But  ye,  beloved,  building  up 
yourselves  on  your  most  holy  faith,  praying  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God." 

A  delegate  from  Amherst  said  :  When  I  came  along 
the  street  from  the  station  toward  these  grounds,  I 
thought,  "  How  beautiful  !  "  "When  I  got  to  these  build- 
ings and  looked  over  the  landscape,  I  thought,  "  How 
beautiful  !  "  And  when  I  came  in  contact  with  the  differ- 
ent speakers,  I  thought,  ''  How  beautiful  their  lives,  and 
how  we  ought  to  look  up  to  them  !  "  I  hope  every  one 
of  us  will  take  with  us  out  of  this  convention  something 
beautiful.  I  will  carry  with  me  the  memory  of  the  most 
beautiful  thing  I  ever  saw.  Last  Saturday  night  it  was 
my  privilege  to  be  with  four  or  five  young  fellows  in  one 


286  COLLEGE   STUDENTS   AT   NOKTHFIELD. 

of  the  rooms  over  at  the  Marquand.  Our  conversation 
turned  on  the  subject  of  Christianity,  and  we  found  that 
all  of  us,  except  one,  were  Christians.  We  began  to  talk 
with  him,  and  it  finally  led  to  his  saying  that  he  was  will- 
ing to  be  a  Christian,  but  he  didn't  know  just  what  to 
believe.  We  all  knelt  down  there  on  the  floor,  and  if  you 
could  have  heard  that  group  praying  for  tliat  young 
man,  I  am  sure  you  would  have  said  that  was  a  beauti- 
ful thing.  Mr.  Sayford  was  right  when  he  said  we 
couldn't  go  away  from  this  place  without  being  differ- 
ent men.  I  don't  believe  there  is  a  man  in  this  building 
that  wants  to  go  away  the  same  man. 

A  delegate  from  Iowa  said  :  Two  heathen  converts 
of  different  nationalities  happened  to  meet.  They  were 
not  versed  in  each  other's  language,  but  they  had  got  a 
few  English  words  from  the  missionaries.  They  looked 
at  each  other  in  silence,  and  at  length  one  placed  his 
hand  upon  his  breast,  and  said,  "  Hallelujah  !  "  and  the 
other  said,  "Amen  !  "  I  think  that  conveys  our  feelings 
at  this  meeting.  Those  of  us  from  the  West  realize  the 
wonderful  blessing  it  is  to  bring  so  many  of  us  together 
from  the  various  nationalities  of  the  world.  We  can 
make  the  circuit  of  the  globe  now  in  ninety  days  We 
are  much  closer  than  we  used  to  be  :  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  the  isles  of  the  sea.  I  feel  a  greater  sympa- 
thy with  those  nations  than  I  have  ever  felt  before. 
Since  I  have  been  here  I  have  been  impressed  with  the 
necessity  for  some  meeting  at  the  West  similar  to  this 
Northfield  Summer  School.  We  have  Summer  resorts 
that  might  bring  together  a  great  many  for  the  study 
of  the  Word  of  God,  and  I  am  sure  we  might  accom- 
plish a  great  work  by  holding  such  a  meeting. 


CATALOGUE    OF    DELEGATES. 


COLLEGE    STUDENTS. 


Name. 


EUROPE. 

Cecil  H.  Clissold 

F.  W.  W.  Digby 

Charles  M.  Douglas  . . . 

J.  C.  B.  Geddes 

H.  Kempson 

Robert  Latta 

A.  V.  Magee 

W.  R.  Nepveu 

L.  B.  Sladen.... 

Norman  H.  Smith 

CANADA. 
D,  J.  Fvans 

A.  \V.  Beall 

S.  T.  Chown 

T.  R.Scott 

T,  C.  Des  Ban-is,  Jr.  . . 

F.  R.  LiUie 

George  B.  McClean  . . . 

C.  A.  Stuart 

H.  C.  Henderson 

ALABAMA. 

S.  M,  Cornell 

Loyd  M.  Hooper 

CONNECTICUT 

Henry  Floy 

W.  J.  Ford 

Arthur  W.  Partch 

Frank  C.  Roath 

George  Meek  Slewn  . . . 

B.  R.  Abbe,  Jr 

H.  A.  G.  Abbe 

Max  Baird 

Frank  T.  Brown 

W.  H.  Carbain 

S.  Colgate 

Lyle  A.  Dickey 

Robert  M.  Dodsworth  . 

T.  E.  Donnely 

Joseph  R.  Ensign 


College. 


Cambridge 

Oxford 

Edinburgh 

Christ's  Ch],  Oxford!! 

Edinburgh 

MertOn,  Oxford 

Utrecht 

Pembroke,  Oxford .... 
St.  John's,  Cambridge 


McGill 

Queen's 

University  of  Toronto 

Univ.  of  New  Bruns'k 
University  of  Alabama 

Wesleyan  University  . 
Yale  University 


Class 


;89 
91 
90 

'89 


Resibencb. 


Bath,  Eng. 
Birmingham,  Eng. 
Edinburgh,  Scot. 

Merton,  Eng. 
Edinburgh,  Scot. 
Palace,  Peterborough. 
Holland. 
Deal,  Eng, 
Oxford,  Eng. 


Montreal,  Que. 
Whitby,  Ont. 
Kingston,    " 

Toronto,     " 

Brockville,  " 

Mt.  Brydges,  Ont. 

Andover,  N.  B. 


Tuscaloosa,  Ala. 
Selma,  Ala. 


Elizabeth,  N.  Y. 
Westfield,  Mass. 
Hiawatha,  Kan. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Fillmore,  Pa. 
Hartford,  Conn. 

Chicago,  111. 
Troy.  N.  Y. 
Hartford,  Conn. 
Orange,  N.  J. 
Haiku,  Mani,  H.  I. 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Chicago,  111, 
Simsbury,  Conn. 


(287) 


288 


CATALOGUE   OF  DELEGATES. 


Name. 


Samuel  H.  Fisher 

E.  F.  Fletcher 

C.  O.  Gill 

John  C.  Griggs 

L.  L.  Hopkins 

F.  F.  Jewett 

Frederick  M.  Johnson  . . . 

C.  F.  Kent 

H.  Thajer  Kingsbury  .. . 

J.  Langdon 

Harriman  W,  Lee 

D.  S.  Merwin 

Winthrope  G.  Noyes 

E.  L.  Parsons 

Herbert  Parsons  

T.  G.  Sherman,  Jr 

F.  Louis  Slade 

H.  A.  Smith 

A.  Alonzo  Stagg 

H.  E.  Stevens,  Jr 

H.  S.  Stobis 

J.T.Whittlesey 

Glen  Wright 

ILLINOIS. 

Lewis  Rinaker 

Louis  B.  Crane 

G.  A.  Wilson 

George  Blanchard 

N.  H.  Camp 

T.  A.  Clark 

M.  B.  Keplinger 

L.  E.  Miller 

IOWA. 

B.  F.  Cokely 

KANSAS. 
J.  T.  Crawford 

KENTUCKY. 
J.  P.  Dudley,  Jr 

MAINE. 

T.  M.  Singer 

T.  W.  Singer 

H.  W.  Small 

B.  E.Walker 

J.  W.  Edgerly,  Jr 

MASSACHUSETTS 
Edward  A.  Appleton  . . . 

H.  C.  Bemis 

^.  A.  Brick 

W.  E.  Chancellor 

W.P.Clarke 

A.  A.  Cooley 

A.  W.  Crocket 

R.  W.  Crowell 


College. 


Yale  University 


Blackburn 

Knox 

Lake  Forest 

So.  111.  Normal  Univ. 
University  of  Illinois. 


Westfield 


Western. 


Ottawa 


Georgetown 


Bates. 


Maine  State. 


Amherst 


Class 


'89 
'89 


Residence. 


Cincinnati,  O. 
Southbridge,  Mass. 
Orange,  N.  J. 
Centerbrook,  Conn. 
St.  Paul,  Minn. 
Oberlin,  O. 
Norwich,  Conn. 
Palmyra,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City. 
Plymouth,  Conn. 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
New  Haven,  Conn. 
St.  Paul.  Minn. 
Rye,  N.  Y. 
New  York. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
New  York. 
Worcester,  Mass. 
Orange,  N.  J. 
New  York  City. 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Cincinnati,  O. 


Carlinville,  IlL 
Mount  Sterling,  III. 
Lake  Forest,  111. 
Tamaroa,  111. 
Chanute,  Kan. 
Champaign,  111. 
Franklin,  111. 
Mechanicsburgj'.Pa. 


Toledo,  O. 
La  Betti,  Kan. 
Richmond,  Va. 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Lewiston,  Me. 
Lisbon  Falls,  Me. 
St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 
Princeton,  Me. 


Springfield,  Mass. 
Wooster,  Mass. 
Augusta,  Me. 

Bulgaria. 

Auburndale,  Mass. 
Andover,  " 

Amherst,  " 


CATALOGUE   OF   DELEGATES. 


289 


Name. 


College. 


Frank  E.  Crozier !  Amherst 

E.  P.  Drone 

A.  A.  Ewing 

Charles  E.  Ewing, .... 

George  C.  Ewing 

G.  H.  Ewin? 

Edward  Fairbank 

J.  A.  Fairley 

Sidney  R.  Fleet 

W.  O.  Gilbert 

D.  L.  Kebbe 

George  L.  Leonard  . . . 
Robert  A.  McFadden . 
Max  Wood  Moorhead 
Andrew  A.  Muliux  . . . 

E.C.Phillips 

W.D.Rich.. 

Yeer  Sawayama 

Cilfton  L.  Sherman  .. 

D.  Ed.  Smith   

John  T.  Stone 

A.  Truslow 

Walter  Truslow 

John  J.  Walker 

E.  C.  Whiting 

E.  G.  Derby 

C.  A.  Eustman 

H.  S.  Free 

Lawrence  Perry  .  ... 
Benjamin  W.  Wood  . 

W.  L.  Barren 

lohn  K.  Hastings  . . . 

H.  K.  Job 

R.  G.  Leavitt 

L.  H.  Roots 

E.  Sturgis 

S.  W.  Sturgis 

David  C.  Torrey 

Yatavo  Mishima 

F.  O.  Williams 

A.  S.Williams 

John  S.  West 

WillardH.  Roots.... 
William  G.  Snow  .... 

R.  B.  Beaver 

Kvan  Burk 

H.  Clinton 

W.  F.  Holbrook 

H.  C.  Holton 

V.  T.  IronsiU 

C.  "Kerbar 

T.  E.  Lansier 

J.  McDonell.. 

Thomas  Melvin,  Jr.  . 

A.  G.  Moody 

H.  F.  Moulten 

F.  E.  Newton 

W.  F.  Newton 

C.  P.  Spriry 

W.  S.  Beard 


Boston  University. 


Harvard. 


Mass.  Agricultural..  . . 

Mass.  Inst,  of  Tech'y 
Mt.  Hermon  School. 


'89 


90 


Residence. 


Phillips  Academy. 


Harold  C.  Stowe Polytechnic 


West  Springfield,  Mass. 
Keene,  N.  H. 
Dan  vers,  Mass. 


Alniudnager,  India. 
Amherst,  Mass. 
Northfield,  " 
Hesperia,  Mich. 
Holliston,  Mass. 
Bellows  Falls,  Vt. 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 
Erie,  Pa. 
Portland,  Me. 
Amherst,  Mass. 
Ware,  Mass. 
Kyoto,  Japan. 
Brattleboro,  Vt. 
Amherst,  Mass. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Amherst,  Mass. 
Holliston,     " 
Middletown,  Conn. 
Flandreau.  Dakota  Ter. 
North  Brighton,  Mass. 
Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 
Boston,  Mass. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Manchester,  Mass. 

East  Hampton,  Mass. 
Tokio,  Japan. 
Sunderland,  Mass. 

Amherst,  Mass. 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Watertown,  Mass. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Ouslerbeck,  Holland. 

Keene,  N.  H. 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Mt.  Hermon.  Mass. 
Wyoming,  Pa, 

Northfield,  Mass. 


South  Killinglv,  Conn. 
Ashburnham.  Mass. 


290 


CATALOGUE   OF   DP: LEGATES. 


NAiMIC. 


College. 


R.  A.  Clark Sch.  for  Ch.  Workers 

W.  L.  Hatch I 

D.  A.  McPhie i 

F.  L.  Meske 

W.  W.  Peck 

Charles  F.  Powlison "              " 

A.  G.  Shepherd "              " 

H.C.Thompson '  '" 

C.W.  Tolley r...   ! 

W,  H.  Wyman ; 

W.  L.  Swallen i  University  of  Wooste 

J.C.White .1  .     " 

G.  S.  Azhdesian Williams 

Cecil  Bullock "         

f.  W.Cook '•         

E.J.Ellis ..j         "         

Boon  Itt I         "         

T.  J.  Mather.  Jr I         '^         

F.  N.  Merriam "         

J.  Cyril  Ross "         

G.  Van  Vranken :         "         


Class 


MICHIGAN.  I 

Henry  Hospers,  Jr Hope 

H.  A.  Mosser Olivet 

V.  J.  Obinaner ''      

C.  E.  Reed '•      

C.  E.  Goddard !  Univers'y  of  Michigan 

Elnior  E.  Hubbard j  "  " 

Arthur  M.  Hursey j  "  " 

MINNESOTA.  | 

W.  J.  Pell Carleton 

W.  H.  Humphrey Macalester 

J.  C.  Faries Univ.  of  Minnesota. . . 


MISSOURI. 


F.  W.  McCluskey 

W.  T.  Longshore 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

W.  M.  Amis 

H.  L.  Harris 

Lacy  L.  Little 

Charles  E.  Taylor 


Park 

S.  W.  S.  Nor.  School. 


Univ.  of  N.  Carolina. 


Wake  Forest 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

R.  C.  Goodell '  Colbv  Academy 

A.  B.  Patten 

C.  S.  Pease 

H.  G.Woods 


NEW  JERSEY. 

J.  Morton  Davis Blair  Presb.  Academy 

Peter  V.  Davis |      " 

Harry  A.  Mather "          "             "■ 

A.  C.  Rowland Centenary  Col.  Inst  .. 

Frederick  S.  Hall High  School 

L.  E.  Brokaw Peddie  Institute 


93 
'89 


'?9 


>9 


Residenxe. 


Williamstown,  Mass. 
London,  Eng. 
Truro,  Nova  Scotia, 
Springfield,  Mass. 
Port  Jervis,  N.  Y. 
Plain  field.  N.J. 
Springfield,  Mass. 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Springfield,  Mass. 
Elgin,  111. 
Paris,  O. 
Wooster,  O. 
Marsovan,  Turkey. 
Royaliton,  Mass. 
Worcester,       " 
Oxford,  Me. 
Bangkok,  Siam. 
Morristown,  N.  J. 
Oakland,  Cal. 
Montreal,  Que. 
Watervliet  Centre,  N.  Y, 


Holland,  Mich. 
Olivet, 
Detroit,        "• 
Brewster,  N.  Y. 
Winnebago,  111. 
Kinchley,  111. 
North  Berwick,  Me. 


Northfield,  Minn. 
Hudson,  Wis. 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 


Holland  Patent,  N.  Y. 
Warrensburg,  2slo. 


Franklinville,  N.  C. 
Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Little  Miles,  N.  C. 
VVakeforest,  N.  C. 


Antrim,  N.  H. 
Bowdoinham.  Me. 
Middlebury,  Mass. 
Calais,  Me. 


Delaware,  N.  J. 
Pluckemin,  N.  J. 
Morristown,  N.J. 
n,  N. 


Hackettstown 
Mount  Claire 
New  Maiket, 


N.J. 


CATALOGUE   OF   DELEGATES. 


291 


Name. 


College. 


Byron  S.  Clarke Princeton 

Hector  W.  Cowan 

G.  E.  Gillespie 

J.  T.  Halsey 

H.  W.  Hathaway 

W.  H.  Johnson 

R.  H.  Life '.    .. 

Frank  Lukens 

H.  F.  Marshall 

Frank  Palmer    

D.  L.  Pierson 

Phillip  A.  Rollins 

T.  H,  P.  Sailer 

W.  \V.  Smith 

G.  H.  Stephens 

M.  C.  Sulphen 

F.  E.  Talcott 

(ieorge  R.  Wallace ' 

f .  Morris  Yeakle 

A.  D.  Baldwin Rutgers . 

George  De  W.  Kelso 

Reid  F.  Miller 

I 

NEW  YORK.  I 

W.  Adelbert  Billings Colgate  Academy 

William  B.  Steele 

Eugene  B.  Fuller Columbia 

N.  L.  Glover " 

Robert  Goeller 

Henry  A.  Sill 

Frederick  WiUets 

George  H.  Ashley Cornell 

L.  D.  Atwater 

Charles  T.  Biuc; 

G.  D.  Bull.. 

C.  H.  Chapln 

W.  Dalton 

George  Donaldson 

R.  P.  Felton 

Charles  L.  Griggs 

Robert  J.  Kellogg 

Irvine  J.  Kerr 

F.  L.  Korbright 

C.  H.  Lee 

R.  S.  Miller,  Jr 

J.  R.  Mott 

Clifton  Price 

R.  C.  Reed.. 

Louis  Rouillion 

John  T.  Skinner 

A.  R.  Thomas 

H.H.Wood 

Jos.  D.  Ibbotson,  Jr Hamilton 

Albert  H.  Rodgers 

C.  H.  Sharp 

F.  H.  Divine Madison  University. 

A.  C.  Simmons State  Normal  School., 

G.  F,  Shepherd Syracuse  University. . 

S.  B.  Barrett Univ.  of  Rochester. . . 

E.  H.  Eaton " 


Class 


91 
'91 
'qi 
'88 
spec'l 

'90 
'88 
^90 
'91 
91 
'91 
'90 
'89 


90 


Residence. 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Hobart,  N.  Y. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Jersey  City,  N.  J. 
Sing  Sing,  N.  Y. 
Rye,  N.  Y. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
Northfield.  Mass. 
Kennebunk  Port,  Me. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


New  York  City. 
Montrose,  Pa. 
Morristown,  N.  J. 
New  York  City. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Morristown,  N.J. 
Newark,  N.  J. 
Newburgh,  N.  Y. 
Sacramento,  Cal. 


Yonkers,  N.  Y. 
Hamilton,   " 
Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y 
Parkville,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Elmira,  " 

Ithaca,  *' 

Poquag,  " 

Antrim,  N.  H. 
Utica,  N.  Y. 
Gilbertsville,  N.  Y. 
Plainview,  "' 

Kingston,  " 

Norfolk,  O 
Ithaca.  N.  Y. 
Middletown,  N.  Y. 
Pawnee  City,  Neb. 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
Postville.  Iowa. 
Ithaca,  N.^Y. 

Boston.  Mass. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
West  Eaton,  N.  Y, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Richfield  Springs,  N. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y. 
Binghamton,       " 
Brockport,  " 

Oswego,  " 

Rochester,  " 

Springville,  " 


292 


CATALOGUE  OF  DELEGATES. 


Namb. 


College. 


W.  H.  Hill... 
John  McGiiire. 
A.  H.  Wilcox. . 


OHIO. 

C.  E.Moore 

Freder'ck  Bridgeman  .. 

W.  L.  Curtis 

F.  H,  Gushing 

F.  W.  Davis 

A.  D.  Edwards 

C.  K.  Euring 

R.  S.  Goldsbury 

'I'anuis  Havaski 

W.  J.  Hutchins 

W.  F.  Ireland 

Charles  A.  Kofard 

O.  S.  Kriebel 

A.  J.  Leonard 

F.  E.  Leonard 


Univ.  of  Rochester. 


Ada  University, 
Obeilin 


A.  Luethi <■- 

S.  J.  Luethi 

A.  L.  McClelland "         

M.  M.  Metcalf. 

P.  H.  Metcalf -         

C.A.Nelson "         '.'.'.'.'.'.['.'.'.'.'.'.'. 

D.  B.  Penniman "         '  ^  ^ 

Frank  F.  Pierson i  " 

C.  W.  Savage 

M.  S.  Terashina 

F.  J.  Van  Horn "         '.'.'.'.''.'.'.".'.'.'.'. 

E.  B.  Stephens Ohio  VVcsleyan  Univ.. 

PENNSYLVANIA.        i 

A.H.Zimmerman Dickenson 

J.  H.  Whitely Edinboro 

R.  C.  Bryant Lafayette  

A.  E.  Keigwin I  •» 

Thomas  W.  Pearson " 

C.  K.  Reed "  .■.■.■;.■.■.';■■. 

J.  H.  Leuba Ursinus . '.  . . 

John  H.  Giroin j  Univ.  of  Pennsylvania 

Samuel  M.  Lindsey |        "  '' 

T.  E.  Moffat Westminster 

C.  G.  Roop Pennsylvania  State  . . . 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
John  Lake 

w.  M.  Smith ; ; ; 


S.  C.  Military'  Acad'y 


VIRGINIA. 

G.  W.  Bull I  Hampden  Sydney. 

E.  M.  Craig 

S.  M.  Engle 

J.  M.  Holladay 

W.  A.  Christian Randolph  Macon  . 

L.  McK.  Judkins 

J.  W.  Pettyjohn 

George  H.  Ray 


92 

89 
90 
89 
91 
90 

'89 

'91 
90 


Residence. 


West  Barre,  N.  V. 
South  Bend,  Ind. 
Rochester,  N.  V. 


Spring  Mountain,  O. 

Marion,  Ala. 
Turner,  Me. 

Dundee,  111. 
York,  Pa. 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Tokio,  Japan. 
Oberlin,  O. 

Normal,  111. 
Hereford,  Pa. 
Salt  Lake  City, 

Gnaddenhatten,  O. 

Brandon,  Wis. 
Elyria,  O. 

Providence,  R.  I. 
Oberlin,  O. 
East  Orange,  N.  J. 
Church ville,  N.  Y. 
Tokio,  Japan. 
Northfield,  O. 
Cincinnati,  O. 


Carlisle,  Pa. 
Vanceville,  Pa. 
Danville,  N.  J. 
Wilmington,  Del. 
Slippery  Rock,  Pa. 
Mt.  Hermon,  Mass. 
New  York  City. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  Wilmington,  Pa. 


Edgefield,  Conn. 
Glenn  Springs,  S.  C. 


Norfolk,  Va. 
Craigsville,  Va. 
Harper  s  Ferry,  W.  Va. 
Lynchburg,  Va. 

Richmond,  " 
Lynchburg,  " 
Ashland,  Va. 


CATALOGUE   OF   DELEGATES. 


293 


Name. 

College. 

Class 

Residence. 

J    S.  Richardson. 

Randolph  Macon   ..    . 
Crozer  Theo.  Seih'y.. 

'89 

'8g 
'88 
'91 
,90 
89 
90 
90 
'89 

'90 

'90 
'90 
90 

Barhamsville.  Va. 

F   C   Williams 

Blackstone,  Va. 

W.  G.  Williams 

Disputanta,  Va. 

VERMONT. 

A.  E.  Seagrave 

D.  N.  Blakely 

R   N.  Fairbanks 

Brattleboro,  Vt. 
Marlboro,  N.  H. 

St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 

L.  PoUend,  Jr 

Frederick  Billings.  Jr 

Windsor  A.  Brown 

C.  W.  Buckham 

Frank  Hazen  . 

»t 

University  of  Vermont 

Vermont  Academy 

Beloit 

Woodstock,  Vt. 
Barre  Plains,  Mass. 
Burlington,  Vt. 
Richmond,  Vt. 

Sho.  Nemoto 

L.  G.  Ketchum          

Mito,  Japan. 
Cambridee,  Mass. 

C.  H.  Osgood 

Bellows  Falls,  Vt. 

WISCONSIN. 
D.  R.  Williams , 

BelDit,  Wis. 

G.  D.  Campbell 

C.  W.  Turner 

Ripon,      " 
Pognette,  Wis. 

Univ.  of  Wisconsin  .. . 

SECRETARIES    AND    OTHER    EMPLOYES    OF 
YOUNG   MEN'S   CHRISTIAN    ASSOCIATION. 


N.\ME. 


Title. 


Address. 


J.  L.  Gordon 

T.  Humphrey 

T.  P.  Day 

W.  A.  Magee 

William  P.  Taylor.. 

Edward  Durvee 

W.  G.  Lotze'. 

Walter  Wheeler  ... . 
Frederick  I.  Fagg. . . 
James  M.  L.  Bates. . 

W.  B.  Abbott 

J.  H.  Manning 

Frank  W.  Ober 

Edward  F.  See 

A.  Candlish 

James  McConaughy 

George  A.  Hall 

John  L.  Wanzel  .  . . 
W.  S.  Foster 

D.  C.  Gilmore 

A.  Munrox 

E.  A.  Pierce 

W.  A.  Bowen 

Edward  Fawl 

W.  L.  Anderson  .. . . 
Harry  Hiebner  . 

A.  Kennedy 

Harry  B.  Rankin  . . . 


State  Secretary. . . 
General  Secretary 


Assistant  Secretary 

Secretary 

General  Secretary  . 


Secretary , 

General  Secretary 


Hartford,  Conn. 
Indianapolis,  Iiid. 
Topeka,  Kan. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 
famaica  Plains,  Mass. 
Newburyport, 
Springfield,  "■ 


Assistant  Secretar>' 
General  "■ 

State  " 

Assistant        " 

Secretary' 

Librarian 

General  Secretary. 


Westfield, 
Gardiner,  Me. 
Concord.  N.  H. 
Plainfield,  N.  J. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  " 
New  York  City, 


N.  Y 


Assist.  State  Secretary. 

General  Sceretary 

Assistant  Secretary. . . . 


Gymnasium  Inst 
Secretary 


New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

Yorkville,  N.  Y. 
Rochester,      " 
Troy,  " 

Waterville,     " 
Harrisburgh,   Pa. 

Philadelphia,    " 


Morristown, 


294 


CATALOGUE   OF   DELEGATES. 
GENERAL. 


Name. 


Vocation*. 


V.  C.  Hurt i  Missionary 

W.  M.  Smith ! 

Janzo  Kawamoto M.D 

F.  H.  Ibingfield i  

E.  J.  Steinity ;  Minister 

F.  H.  Taylor i  Missionary 

S.  F.  Whitehouse "  

T.  H.  Taylor Minister 

t  Moffett '  

Robert  Latte Minister 

Stuart  L.  Roussel Evangelist 

A.  Bourquin :  Minister 

W.  G.  Mills ....I  "         

L.  R.  Montgomerie 

F.  H.  DuVernet Professor 

Cecil  C.  Owen    Mini? ter 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heard 

Alexander  Arthur i 

R.  L.  Charlton j  

Percy  E.  Judge |  

R.  S;  Boss I  

J.  L.  Sample '  Sturgis,  Black  Hi 

Stuart  H.  Kyle r  ••;■■. • 

S.  F.  Whitehouse Missionary 

Charles  H.  Gough 

H.  S.  Hart! 

F.  M.  Moody 

W.  L.  Phelps 

J.  B.  Reynolds 

T.  H.  Meekins 

L.  O.  Baird 

E.  R.  Hendrick 

W.  T.  Hussey 

W.  H.  Beaman 

G.  S.  Dickerman 

C.  R.  Sherman 

N.G.  Clark 

H.  M.  Fillebroron 

B.  Gunnison 

L.  E.  Hanner 

H.  H.  Hasting 

L.  P.  Lane 

William  T-.  Palmer 

William  J.  H.  Strong 

J.  G.  Laken 

George  E.  Taber 

Robert  T.  Osgood 

L.  W.  Riggs 

T.  Weston 

C.  S.  Hemingway 

N.  J.  Stutten 

F.  B.  Towne 

E.  N.White 

C.  E.  Ameion 

Russell  Sturgis 

A.  M.  Spangler 

H.  Schwab 

George  H.  Flinn 


Address. 


Nanking,  China. 
Florence,  Italy. 
Kobe,  Japan. 
Digby,  Eng. 
London,  " 


North  London,  Eng. 
New  Castle,  " 

Edinburgh,  Scot. 
Geneva,  Switz. 
Lausanne,  Switz. 
Kingston,  Ont. 

Toronto,       " 

P.  E.  I.,  Canada. 
Montreal,  Que. 


Dakota  Territory. 
Bethel,  Conn. 
London,     " 
New  Haven.  Conn. 


Minister 

Manufacturer 


Minister. 


Teacher 


Business 


Northampton, 
Chicago,  111. 
Kansas  City,  Kan. 
North  Berwick.  Me. 
Amherst,  Mass. 


Boston, 


Brookline,    " 
Campells,     " 

Cambridge,  " 
Georgetown,  Mass. 
Great  Banington,  Mass. 
Holyoke,  Mass. 


Lowell,         " 
Manchester,  Mass. 
Mitteneague,     '' 
Mt.  Hermon,     " 
Myricks,  '' 


CATALOGUE  OF  DELEGATES. 


295 


Name. 

VOC.M  ION. 

Address. 

S.  W.  Sayford : 

A.  R.  Weed    .... 

W   S    P:dv/ards 

Northampton,  Mass. 

\V.  F.  Knowlton 

W    H    Riley 

(I                   ik 

H.  R.  Crowell . 

We-Jt  Northfield    " 

-Miss  Dakin 

Springfield, 

Miss  Grace  Fairbank. 

W   H.  P   Tanner . 

wt                                            it 

M.  J.  Hall 

Vl, 

C  C.  Kenyon 

kk                                            li 

U                                       .1 

W.  H.  Swallow 

11                                       n 

F   Richardson  . 

Swansea,                '* 

Frederick  L.  Norton 

Frederick  Berry 

F   B    Richards. 

Lawyer 

Evangelist 

Westfield, 
Rives,  Mich. 
Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

James  Foldsburgh 

f.  G.  Castain 

Lee  S.  Pratt 

Missionary 

Teacher 



Business 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Grenada,  Miss. 
Parkville,  Mo. 

Stephen  T.  Livingston 

W.  F.  Holbrook 

Jaffrey,  N.  H. 

■Arthur  T    Smith 

11           ii 

George  H    Griffin 

Zeene,       " 

Camden,  N.  J. 

0    H    Rooms 

East  Orange,  N.  J. 

Edward  S.  Towne 



William  C.  Finck    . 



Elizabeth, 

Millers  Falls,     '' 

L    M    Burr 

Business  . 

Charles  Bush 

(i                i. 

C.  S.  Woodruff 

Montclair,          '" 

A.  D    Woodruff 

G   B    Merriam 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
Newark,  N.  J. 
Perth  Amboy,  N.  J. 
Plamfield,  N.  J. 

J   H    Owens. 

Minister 

W.  E.  Jones 

Teacher 

J.  H.  Robinson 

F.  B.  Everitt 

Minister 

Medical  Missionary 

Evangelist 

Jamesburgh,  N.  J. 
Trenton,  N.  J. 
Attica   N.  Y. 

W.  C.  Kile      . . 

H.  W   Frost . 

Miss  J.  D.  Hubbard 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

D.  W.  McWiUiams 

John  D    Ritten 

li              k> 

W.  H.  Snyder      . . 

H.  E.Wheeler 

Miss  Lizzie  Anderson     

Miss  Grace  Anderson 

J.  W.  Gillett. 

Business 

Cambridge,  " 
Cat«kill  Station,  N.  Y. 

E.  M    Lake 



Flmira   N  Y 

L   F.  Billinger 

Civil  Engineer 

Ilion,          " 

W.  C.  Colburn, 

Lansingburgh,  N.  Y. 

G.  W    Eddy  , 

T.  T.  Hatten 

It                   .>. 

VV.  F.  Ottarson 

11                   tk 

u                         n 

M.  E.  Heddin- 

Minister 

Mrs.  T.  W.  Phelps 

Millers  Falls, 

296 


CATALOGUE   OF   DELEGATES. 


T.  J.  Shanks 
Williai 


Name 


J.  A.  Mcintosh 

Kdward  G.  Zabreskie 

R.  D.  Caslle 

F.  Love 

William  L.  Ludlow 

William  D.  Murray 

I.  S    Merrick 

W.  H.  Parsons 

J.  G.  Ross 


Address. 


Missionary  , 
"New  York  Witness  " 
im  M.  Langdon !  Foreign  Missionary 

Alfred  Williams.  ' 

W.  W.  Grove ;  Missionary 

William  Giilett \  Teacher. 

W.  A.  Dalton Minister. 

J.  F.  Wiser. 

J.  H.  Gilmore 

f ohn  Crawford !  Minister. 

j.  B.  Searls 

Robert  P.  Wilder Foreign  Missionary 

C.  W.  Chamberlain Business 

F.  S.  Goodman i  

Mrs.  F.  S.  Goodman 1  

I-'..  J.  Bosworth I  

T.  A.  Humphrey I  Minister 

F.  H.  Foster 

R.  M   Mateer i  Missionary 

R.  S.  Rice I  Minister. 

H.  W.  Broadhead 

J.  A.  Higgoiis 

William  ii.  Mount | 

Joseph  Sailer ' 

H.  Clay  Trumbull t 

Reuben  Hoffa ' 

W.  Speer 

K.  G.  Osgood 

J.  B.  Hall 

George  P.  Cook  . . 

S.  W.  Edgett 

Mrs.  J.  V.  Estey.. 

B.  H.  Farnsworth. 

L.  W.  Hawley.... 

A.  P.  Dunsium  .. . 

S.  C.  Armstrong. . 

W.  Hazen i  

James  Camron,  Jr i  Minister. 

J.  C.  Hicks 

].  E.  Strong !  

F.  R.  Burgess 

J.  M.  Bain 

A.T.  Craig 1  

E.  E.  Coness '■ !  

W.  H.  Doly 

H.  B.  Fussill 

E.  B.  Marod 

F.  E.  Newton 

Charles  E.  Westgate. 

O.  L.  Ruddock 1  Chistian  School 


Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City,      " 


Norfolk,  N.  Y. 
Pelham,      " 
Pleasant  Valley,  N.  Y- 
Rich\ille,  N.  Y. 
Rochester,     '' 
Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 


Ashtabula,  O. 
Cleveland,    " 


Oberli 


Wooster,       " 

New  Bloomfield,  Pa- 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Reading, 
Washington, 
Bellows  Falls,  Vt. 
Berlin,  Vt. 
Brattleboro,  Vt. 


Quechee,        " 
Hampton,  Va. 
Richmond,  " 
Salisburn.     " 
Oraro,  Wi.s. 
Beloit,    " 


Buckland. 


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